An Unholy Alliance
by Avirra
Summary: AU : How the 2009 movie might have looked like in the Mirror Universe. As a note, in my version of the Mirror-verse, the emphasis is on political maneuvering and manipulation rather than on violence - though violence is certainly a factor. Think in terms of more Machiavelli and less Caligula. *Now complete*
1. Part I - Toys

**An Unholy Alliance**

**Part I - Toys**

If there was one thing Rajinder Puri had learned from over eleven years with Christopher Pike, it was how to read the man's moods. Not that it took an expert to know that items being thrown into the wall immediately after entering their home signified a bad mood.

Putting away the PADD he'd been reading, Puri immediately dropped some ice into a tall glass, then half-filled it with their best malt whiskey before moving to greet Pike.

"So - what idiot thing did the Admiralty do today, Chris?"

Pike took the offered glass and tilted it back for a long drink before speaking.

"Recruiting. Those idiots want me to go around and find them new recruits for the Academy."

"What's with that? The press gangs aren't meeting their quotas?"

Moving over to a chair, Pike sat down heavily.

"Oh, they're meeting their quotas, but those idiots aren't bringing in anyone fit for anything but basic Security and grunt work."

"Ah, so they want a few recruits that can actually read?"

The next drink Pike took drained the glass. Puri moved behind his chair and began massaging the Captain's tense shoulders. After a few moments, Pike sagged slightly and leaned back into the hands.

"You are way too good at that, Raj."

"You give me way too much practice at it. Chris? Is it really such a bad thing? The ones going into Academy next term are going to be the ones you have to pick from to man the Enterprise."

"I suppose you have a point, Raj . . . too good of a point actually."

Reaching back, Pike captured Puri's wrists.

"You set me up, didn't you?"

The soft sigh answered that question.

"Chris, you've been doing nothing but mope and pace since they put you on desk duty until the Enterprise is ready to go. Won't this be better than being a desk jockey?"

Sighing himself, Pike released Puri's wrists.

"Fine. You're right. As usual. But you usually have more of an ulterior motive than just getting me out of your hair."

The chuckle had Pike turning his head to look directly at Puri.

"Who says I didn't have an ulterior motive? There's a toy I want you to get for me."

An amused look formed and Puri knew he had fully broken Pike out of his bad mood.

"A toy? You haven't asked me for a toy in ages. Who is it?"

Puri moved over and picked his abandoned PADD back up.

"You know how you keep checking up on George Kirk's kid? Well, I had a student attend one of my guest lectures a few years ago that caught my eye and I've kept track of him ever since."

Offering the PADD to Pike, Puri moved back behind the chair and began massaging Pike's shoulders again.

"Leonard McCoy. Currently in jail?"

"And how many brushes with the law has the Kirk boy had? Read the court transcripts and take careful note of the names."

"I'm seeing a lot of the same last name. Occasionally hyphenated with another name, but still, a lot. Including the judge."

"All related to the now ex-wife of McCoy. The charges against him are bogus, Chris."

"How can you be that positive? You haven't seen him in, what? Over five years?"

"I know they're bogus because Leonard McCoy is a genius. He was inventing new surgical procedures before he even finished his internship. He also has patents on improvements to current medical gear and some new designs all his own that are showing promise. Believe me when I say that if he wanted his ex-wife dead, not only would she be dead, but I doubt that they'd have found an identifiable body. If you don't believe me, go over to the notes I've made about the former Mrs. McCoy."

"Lost several lovers, has she?"

"Seven altogether. Three that were actually found. Coroner wasn't able to pinpoint a cause of death on any of them, but the deaths were unpleasant in the extreme."

"McCoy's work?"

"I have no doubt. Poisons were a specialty of his. Pretty sure his ex getting nervous or frustrated about being able to keep a lover is what caused her to make the false charges. He'll be convicted because her family literally owns that county. But as an official recruiter? You have the legal right to pull any prisoner you want for the Fleet - no explanations needed and nothing that bunch can do to prevent it."

"And you want him?"

A soft laugh came from Puri at the slight jealous tone.

"Not in that way, Chris - you know I value maturity. I want him as a researcher. Get him for me as one of my staff and I can guarantee you a Sickbay second to none."

Reaching back again, Pike laid his hand over Puri's.

"Fine. I'll go to Georgia and get you your toy. Then I think I'll swing by Iowa and pick up one for myself."


	2. Part II - Georgia

**Part II - Georgia**

He'd only been in Georgia for an hour, but it didn't take Pike long to lose patience with the county's sheriff.

"I'm telling you, mister, you can't go back to the holding cells. I don't care who you are or where you're from."

Pike fixed the man with an intense, cold stare and the man finally stammered into silence. Pike allowed the silence to hang for a minute or two before he began speaking.

"Really? Then you are willfully disobeying the direct orders of the Emperor? You hadn't struck me as the suicidal type, sheriff. You **do** know that interfering with an Imperial Starfleet recruiter performing their duties is an offense punishable by death?"

"You're an official recruiter?"

Pike pulled out his papers and brandished them under the man's nose. The sheriff paled and moved aside immediately. Pike continue to fix him with his stare for another long minute before sneering and moving past him to enter the holding cell area.

It didn't take him long to spot the man he was after, though if he hadn't known the man was a doctor, he'd never have guessed it. After he gave it a bit of thought, he didn't suppose he'd be looking any better if he'd been incarcerated under the same conditions.

The cell was sparsely furnished, to say the least. Only a cot, a sink and a toilet and the way McCoy was being held meant he couldn't use any of the items very well. His left wrist was handcuffed to a ring embedded in the wall with actual old-fashioned handcuffs. That meant he could sit on the cot, but not even attempt to lie down on it. He could reach the sink with one hand if he stretched and the toilet couldn't be much easier for him to get to. There was an untouched tray of food in the room that had been left well out of McCoy's reach. From that, Pike guessed that since whenever he'd been arrested, the man hadn't eaten.

Despite that, the gaze that the man turned on Pike wasn't that of a broken man. Defeated for now, perhaps, but not broken. After studying Pike for a minute, he spoke in a rough voice.

"If you're another lawyer, you might as well just head back on out. Nothing left to squeeze out of this turnip unless you've come for what I'm wearing."

Rather than answer that, Pike picked up the tray of food and carried it over, sitting it beside McCoy. There was obvious suspicion, but hunger and thirst overrode that. He took a long drink first and then began to eat. Still, McCoy never took his eyes off of Pike and the wheels turning in his head could almost be heard.

Pike was already beginning to see what Puri liked about the man. He decided to see how he'd react to a blunt statement.

"You're being railroaded on false charges."

McCoy almost choked on what he was swallowing, but he managed to get it down before laughing.

"Hell, Slim - tell me something I don't already know. I keep looking for relief, but the house hasn't landed on the Wicked Witch of the Southeast yet."

Chuckling himself, Pike made use of the sink to lean against.

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

McCoy took another drink, re-studying Pike as he did.

"Starfleet Captain, obviously. But past that? Not a clue."

"Captain Christopher Pike. I'm a close friend of Doctor Rajinder Puri. Do you remember him?"

"Of course I do. One of the few speakers we got in that it wasn't a waste of time listening to."

"You made an impression on him as well. Which is why I'm here."

An eyebrow quirked upward and McCoy seemed amused.

"I doubt he wants my autograph or my recipe for peach cobbler - though it is a dandy. One of the few things I managed to keep from the Witch."

"No to both of those, though he might rethink the peach cobbler. I'm here as a recruiter, McCoy."

All traces of amusement immediately left the doctor's face. For a moment, Pike was even concerned that McCoy was going to start hyperventilating.

"I'll have to give you points for the most original reaction to that statement. Surely you don't prefer staying in this hole to enlisting in Starfleet?"

Swallowing hard, McCoy seemed to have a problem getting his vocal chords to work for a minute.

"I know you won't understand, Captain, but it's a mighty close call."

To McCoy's surprise, Pike pulled his PADD forward and consulted it.

"I should have read this closer. Aviophobia, hmm? I can see where Starfleet wouldn't have been your first career option."

Putting his PADD back away, Pike moved over to the cot and sat near McCoy, ignoring that it was plain they hadn't allowed the man to clean up or change his clothing in quite awhile. He started his pitch while McCoy was still trying to figure out how much information on him that Pike had on that PADD.

"On a Starship, you'll never even know you're in the black unless you deliberately go to a viewport - which there aren't that many of. Be just like working in a covered city, McCoy. And think about what all you'll be able to do once you're free again. Once you become a commissioned officer. Think it will eat at the Witch to know that you're far beyond the reach of her petty little clan?"

A slow smile began to form again on McCoy's face.

"Like acid. You know, I don't generally get on a shuttle unless I'm drunk enough to forget that I'm on one."

"I'll buy."

There was only a slight additional hesitation, then McCoy nodded.

"Fine then. You got yourself a doctor."

As Pike's smile began to remind him a little too much of a shark, McCoy repressed a shudder.

"Well then, Leonard my boy, let's get this show on the road. With any luck, she'll be mortified by sundown."

Pike went to the front of the cell and called out.

"I need the keys in here now."

The sheriff started to stammer again about how he couldn't release the prisoner. He started to stammer worse when he found Pike's phaser aimed slightly below his belt-line.

"You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I was giving you a choice. Doctor McCoy is leaving with me. Your only option is whether you will still be breathing when we walk out the door."

The sheriff's hands were shaking so badly that Pike finally took the keys from him and handed them to McCoy so that he could release himself. He was out of the cuff in less than a minute and on his feet.

"Come on, Leonard. Let's go pick up your things and get out of here."

McCoy shrugged.

"Other that the stuff out of my pockets that the sheriff took, all I have left is what I'm wearing. I wasn't kidding earlier when I thought you were a lawyer. She took everything. Don't know what the hell she did with my clothes. Knowing her, probably burnt them for spite."

Pike didn't bother asking the sheriff. He went straight to the main desk and rummaged until he found what appeared to be McCoy's things. He chuckled to himself when he noticed one of the items was a hip flask.

Laying out the items, he gestured over them.

"This look like everything, Leonard?"

Eyeing the small collection, McCoy gave a rueful nod.

"Afraid so. All my worldly goods that remain. Hell, I guess croaking in a shuttle crash will beat starving to death on the side of the road."

Smirking as he watched McCoy gather up what was on the desk, Pike clapped a hand on his shoulder once he was done.

"We'll have to work on that fatalistic streak of yours, Leonard. Now, I believe I owe you a drink."

"More than one if you were sincere about me being drunk enough to ignore the shuttle trip."

"Let's get to it then. I'll even spring for having your flask refilled."


	3. Part III - Iowa

**Part III - Iowa**

James Kirk was laying on his back, staring up at the sky. The view was pretty monotonous, but really, no worse than the endless rows of corn. The sun was starting to go down, which at least made a change in the light. He was so deathly bored that, at times, he almost felt like his brains were melting and trickling out of his ears.

He hated this place. Hated it almost as much as he hated the 'legacy' of his father. Hated it almost as much as he hated his mother for deciding that out in the middle of nowhere was the right place to raise him, but then deciding it was far too isolated for her to hang around there herself. Hated it almost as much as he hated his brother for taking off to parts unknown without taking him along. Hated it only a little less than he hated his step-father. Late step-father.

Thinking of his late step-father's 'accident' put a smile on his face as few other things could, but the smile faded again as he faced facts. He was twenty-five years old. A genius that could be doing any number of things if he wasn't stuck here.

Rising up a little, the blinking light at his ankle seemed brighter as the natural lighting began to dim. That accessory was the only thing keeping him in Iowa. It wouldn't allow him to travel more then fifty miles from home. Yet. It was only a matter of time before he figured out a way to work around that without having to sacrifice his foot. That bored, he wasn't.

In the meantime, he decided to head to the local watering hole. He'd managed to pick up a few odd jobs, so he had money for a few drinks. Maybe the local girls wouldn't all be screwing the Fleeties that were in town waiting for their ride to San Francisco and willing to go for the usual fees. Damn Fleeties. Prices for both booze and women soared while they were in town.

Parking his bike outside, Kirk sauntered in, looking over the bar. Most specifically, looking over to the grouping of red barstools that was where the girls sat when they were 'open for business'. The dark-skinned beauty sitting there was not only a stranger, but also seemed to be a Fleetie.

Smirk firmly in place, Kirk moved along side of where she was sitting. Either she was ignorant of the local rules about the red leather chairs or she was looking to pick up a few extra credits before leaving town. His first clue that she wasn't advertising was when he offered to pay for her drink and she turned him down. None of the working girls he knew ever turned down a free anything.

The woman seemed a bit on the snobby side, but Kirk decided to be nice for once and clue her in on where she was sitting, if only to see if finding out would make her choke on her drink. That was when the trouble started. One of the bigger cadets decided to take exception to the fact that a 'farm boy' was talking to one of 'their women'. Kirk being Kirk, it wasn't long before a fight broke out. One that was ended very suddenly by an ear-splitting whistle.

As Captain Pike strode into the bar, he noticed that he wasn't going to have to search for the Kirk boy after all. Not speaking to any of the cadets, all of whom had jumped to attention after the whistle, Pike moved straight to the bar, speaking loudly enough to the bartender for everyone to hear.

"Alright. What started all of this?"

The bartender immediately pointed to Uhura, who immediately started getting angry, but she kept control enough to keep silent.

"Cadet Uhura seemed to be one of the only ones not fighting. How did she start it?"

At that question, the bartender indicated the set of red leather chairs. All the other chairs in the bar were black.

"Your cadet sat down in one of the chairs that the local talent use when they're open for business. Jimmy was trying to warn her that she was going to get folks assuming she was for hire when that big guy there got angry at him for talking to her. Went downhill from there real fast."

Hearing what she'd done without knowing, Uhura was embarrassed. Even moreso when Pike moved in front of her and looked her over slowly.

"So. Which was it, cadet? You were there unwittingly or you knew what you were doing?"

"Unwittingly, sir."

"And you were ignoring the young man that was trying to warn you off?"

"Yes sir. I thought he was coming onto me, sir."

"I see. Did he grab you?"

Uhura blinked, not expecting that question.

"Sir?"

"Did he grab you? Assault you?"

"No, sir."

"Then how did this turn physical?"

Pike followed Uhura's eyes as they flashed over to the large cadet that the bartender had already pointed out.

"You laid hands on the local first?"

"Yes sir, but -"

Whatever else the cadet had been about to say in his defense was cut off. No-one else had even noticed that Pike had his phaser out until he fired. The large cadet fell dead to the barroom floor.

Turning around to address the remaining cadets, Pike's voice was icy.

"Did I or did I not specifically say to you that you were to keep out of trouble?"

The cadets snapped out the answer, all with an eye toward the phaser still in Pike's hand.

"Yes, sir!"

"The rest of you will be having any repairs that are needed here split between you and deducted from your pay. In addition, you will all be spending some time in the booth when we reach San Francisco. I suggest that you think about how fortunate you are that you will live to reach there. Your leaves are cancelled. Get back to your assigned quarters and remain there until time for the shuttle to depart."

As the other cadets fled the bar as quickly as they could manage, Kirk was picking himself back up, staring at the body of the man he'd jokingly called 'Cupcake'. After the last cadet was out of the door, Pike turned his attention back to Kirk, offering him the towel he'd gotten from the bartender. Kirk accepted it with a nod.

"Thanks. I think you have the loudest whistle I've ever heard."

"You're welcome, James. Hopefully that group didn't make my job harder."

The use of his first name made Kirk instantly wary.

"I guess that would depend on what your job is."

Pike casually leaned against one of the tables.

"Currently, I'm working as a Starfleet recruiter."

Narrowing his eyes, Kirk started to reach for the beer he'd had to abandon when the fight broke out, cursing under his breath when he found it was gone. Giving a chuckle, Pike ordered a replacement beer for him.

"Replacing your drink seems only fair since you were trying to give one of my people some good advice."

"Yeah. And look what that got me. No good deed goes unpunished, right?"

"I wouldn't know, James. Never did a good deed to test the theory."

Chuckling at that, Kirk saluted Pike with his beer. Pike ordered a drink for himself, waiting for it to be delivered before making another comment.

"Nice ankle jewelry."

Kirk's good mood evaporated with that comment.

"I can see why they made you a recruiter. You have a way with people."

Tsking, Pike took a long sip of his drink.

"I know you, James. I know who your parents were, I know your record, both juvenile and adult, I know your potential. You could be someone. But not unless you knock the mud of this area off of your boots and get out."

"Never met the guy that sired me and I'm sick of hearing about him. As to the rest? You're the one that pointed out my 'jewelry, old man. You know as well as I do that I can't leave."

"Sure you can, James. You just need the right key. In your case, that key is me. Agree to join Starfleet. Go to the Academy. I can guarantee your way in. After that? It's up to you."

"And if I flunk out?"

"Then I'll know that you were here so long that your brain rotted and you can go find a job whoring yourself by the Bay for all I care. But you know the only way there is to get people to shut up about your father?"

Kirk's bright blue eyes darkened a bit, but Pike could tell that he now had the young man's undivided attention.

"How?"

"Outdo him. Make people forget his name. Make it so that when they hear the name Kirk, you're the one who they think of."

The blue eyes widened as if a new world of possibilities had just opened up in Kirk's mind. Pike waited, wondering to himself if he'd possibly unleashed a beast larger than the one he was expecting.

"How long did it take him to make officer?"

"Four years."

"I'll make it in three."

Pike finished off his drink and stood.

"Tomorrow at 0800, the shuttle leaves. Be there."

The blue eyes were hard and the smile wasn't that of a shark, but a barracuda.

"Wouldn't miss it, old man."


	4. Part IV - Shuttle

**Part IV - Shuttle**

Kirk arrived at 0730 for the shuttle, driving his bike up to the gate. The guard gave him a dubious look, but saw where Pike had added Kirk's name to the list of personnel authorized to enter the area. As he motioned Kirk in, he commented.

"Nice ride you have."

Smirking, Kirk tossed him the keys.

"You can have it. Not like I can take it with me."

Besides, it was stolen. That fact wasn't Kirk's problem any longer though.

He was still showing the cuts and bruises from the bar fight as he strolled over toward the shuttle, his single bag slung over his shoulder. Pike spotted him and waved him over.

"The flight will be much more comfortable if your ankle isn't being fried the whole way. Put your foot up here, James."

All too happy to be getting rid of the device, Kirk sat his foot on top of the indicated box and the band fell to the ground a few seconds later.

"You and another cadet were a little late to the party, so I've sent your sizes into the Academy. Your uniforms will be waiting on you when you arrive. Follow me, we'll finish up your papers and get you onboard."

By the time they were finished, it was less than ten minutes until the shuttle's liftoff. Kirk boarded, looking over the others already seated. The group that had been in the bar were all there and very subdued. Of course, that was probably due to the fact that they knew they had a session in the agony booth waiting for them at the other end. He wondered if any of them had even been in the booth before. In the case of a couple of them, he doubted it.

There were three open seats left, Kirk picked the middle one. Just as he was about to strap in, an argument broke out in the back. The first voice was unknown to him, but the second was definitely Pike's.

"No. I am **way** too sober for this."

"Blame your metabolism. But sober or not, we're about to leave. Go on, just keep telling yourself two things."

"What two things?"

"Beats starving on the side of the road. And your flask is full."

"You could've just gone with number two."

When the first voice came into sight, Kirk chuckled. He was no longer the scruffiest looking person on the shuttle. The newcomer had several days worth of stubble and, from the stains on his clothing, Kirk was afraid that he'd reek. That was the first pleasant surprise. The clothing was worn, torn and stained, but clean. The man himself smelled of a not-too bad mix of some sort of citrusy soap and bourbon.

As the only two remaining seats were on either side of Kirk, there really wasn't any question that the newcomer was going to be at his side. Despite the lack of bad odor, Kirk was still somewhat leery.

"You don't get airsick, do you?"

"Only when airborne. You should be pleased to know that I skipped anything solid for breakfast, but there is still the chance I might throw up on you."

"I wouldn't advise it. Why the hell does flying get you all worked up? These thing are pretty safe."

"Really? And just how many shuttle wrecks have you been at, kid? I've been to dozens. My father was called out on those things more times than I could count. And half the time, he'd drag me to them with him."

"What was your dad? The coroner?"

"No - he was a doctor. Mind you, a coroner would have been a helluva lot more useful in most of those cases."

Kirk's interest was mildly stirred.

"So, does that mean you're a doctor yourself?"

Just as the man was about to answer, a shudder went through the shuttle as it began to take-off. When Kirk saw the white knuckles, he knew that the man hadn't been exaggerating his fear of flying.

Once the shuddering died down, the man's eyes stayed closed, but he reached into a pocket and pulled out flask, smoothly opening it and taking a drink. Then his eyes slowly reopened and he gave Kirk a wry look before offering him the flask.

"Here, kid. If you have to sit through this flight wondering if I'm going to puke on you, you might as well have a little of the good along with the bad."

Pike was watching everything in the passenger hold over monitors and the scene between McCoy and Kirk had him riveted. When Kirk took the offered flask and gulped down a quick drink, the shark smile appeared again. Well, well. How very interesting. He continued to watch as Kirk passed the flask back.

"Damn. That's the good stuff."

Quirking a smile as he took his flask back, McCoy introduced himself.

"Leonard McCoy."

"James T. Kirk."

"What's the T stand for?"

Kirk grimaced.

"It stands for a horrible middle name."

"Can't be much worse than mine, kid. Leonard Horatio McCoy."

"James Tiberius Kirk."

"I consider that a tie."

Laughing, Kirk took a better look at the man and decided he probably wasn't as old as his current condition was making him appear.

"I agree - tie. So - how does a doctor that's afraid of flying end up in Starfleet?"

"You know, I never confirmed that I was a doctor."

"Looking like you do and still being on this shuttle means you must have something going for you."

"Touché. Same could be said of you. Since I'm outted as a doctor, why don't you let me take a look at those cuts?"

"They aren't a bit deal. I've had worse. If you still give a damn when we get to the Academy, I'll let you look over them there, okay?"

"Fine. I doubt you'll manage to get a major infection before then."

"You still haven't answered the question about how you ended up in Starfleet."

"Long story, but to summarize it? Don't get married."

That got a chuckle out of Kirk.

"Took you for a ride, did she?"

"More like for a drag. Witch took anything I could have ridden. Looking at me, you see the sum total of the possessions I have left to my name. She took the land that had been in my family for six generations, the house, the money, hell – she even laid claim to my medical tools down to my grandfather's old stethoscope. If she could've figured out a way to have taken my bones, she'd have taken them too and made them into a wind chime by now."

McCoy took another drink and reoffered the flask again to Kirk, who again accepted it. From his vantage point, Pike sat back and considered. The thought of his toy and Puri's toy hitting it off had never even crossed his mind. In fact, one of his major concerns about Kirk was the fact that he didn't buy that Kirk's step-father's death was an accident any more than Puri believed McCoy's ex-wife's lovers deaths were all coincidental. So a roommate that Kirk didn't get along with was apt to have a very short lifespan.

He couldn't hear what the two were talking about, but just the act of drinking out of the same flask was more than he expected that Kirk would do. He continued to watch them. Whatever Kirk and McCoy were talking about, it was apparently enough to take McCoy's mind off of where he was because the doctor's body language was considerably less tense.

Eyes lighting up in amusement as a thought occurred to him, Pike accessed the computer system and used his access to enter the Academy database. It took him less than two minutes to alter the room assignments to make McCoy and Kirk roommates, adding his own code to the assignment to assure no-one else altered it.

Starting to chuckle to himself, he placed a call.

"I'm on my way home, Raj. You are never going to believe what I've got to tell you when I get there."


	5. Part V - Roommates

**Part V - Roommates**

As soon as the shuttle landed, the group that had been in the bar were ordered off to the side and told to stand there at attention until they received further orders. Kirk was whisked off to the area designated for those taking the command track - McCoy was hustled off to the designated Medical area.

Everything happened so quickly that it began to take a surreal edge on Kirk's mind. IDs created, badges programmed, uniforms issued, PADDs distributed, class schedule set, dorm room assigned. Since it was afternoon by the time the initial processing was finished, Kirk was directed to the mess hall area to eat and told to take the remainder of the afternoon to settle into his room, meet his roommate and get some rest. Day two would be his entrance physical and basic admissions testing. If everything checked out on day two, class attendance would begin on day three.

By the time he finished eating, the enormity of what he had done began to sink in. He was surrounded now by people who would all have heard of his father. If they idolized the memory of George Kirk, it was doubtful he'd be able to measure up to their expectations regardless of what he did or how well he did it. If they hated his father, there was a decent chance that they would do whatever they could to make sure his son fell flat on his face.

Kirk brooded on that for a few minutes, then fixed his gaze on the emblem on the wall - the globe impaled on a dagger. A slow smile began to form. Let them try to hold him back. George Kirk might have been willing to sacrifice himself, but his son would find other sacrificial lambs for the slaughter. He had three years to meet the goal he'd set in front of Pike. He had to start now to establish the name for himself that he would need to reach that target.

First thing to do was to get to his room, drop off all the crap he'd been issued and begin to get the lay of the land. Following the instructions on one of the PADDs he'd been given, Kirk reached his building fairly quickly. When he reached his assigned room, Kirk stood for a moment, looking at the door.

He was beginning to wonder just how hard had he been hit in the head that he'd decided to take Pike's challenge to wipe out his father's legacy - or at least dim it considerably. Legacy - that was a huge stinking pile of bullshit. His father hadn't done a damn thing beyond managing to get himself killed. Granted, in a fairly spectacular fashion, but dead nonetheless.

Pike did get one point right though and that was that Kirk was a genius. And that genius mind had been going to waste and probably starting to atrophy in the middle of the Corn Belt. Still starting at the door, Kirk reconsidered.

Maybe the blow to his head in the bar fight really hadn't been that hard and Pike really hadn't been that good of a salesman. Maybe Pike had just said the right things to remind Kirk of just how much he despised that little backwater region his mother had drug him to before abandoning him. And hell - if he was going to leave town, why not leave the planet? There was nothing to hold him here.

Gaze going back to his PADD, Kirk frowned. It didn't tell him who his assigned roommate was. The blue eyes darkened at the thought of having to have a roommate. He really, really didn't want to have a roommate. They were too likely to get in his way. He wondered how much trouble he'd be in if he killed his roommate on the first day. No, bad idea. Even if he made it look like an accident, Pike would guess he'd been behind it. Finally reaching out to deactivate the door lock, Kirk figured that he'd let his roommate live for about a week. That should be plenty of time for whoever it was to gain an enemy or two that his death could be pinned on.

Then the door opened and he found himself staring at the last person he expected to see again. The drunk from the shuttle, but it had taken Kirk a moment to place him. He'd obviously been in the room long enough to clean up, shave and change into a set of medical scrubs. Kirk was a little stunned by how much difference it made to how the doctor looked. For one thing, he could actually believe McCoy was really a doctor.

When their eyes met, Kirk noticed that McCoy seemed as surprised as he was at the sight of his roommate, though McCoy recovered quicker and spoke.

"I was under the impression that they roomed cadets together according to the career track that they're on. But I doubt that you're on the Medical track, Jim."

"And I equally doubt that you're on the Command track, Bones."

McCoy's left eyebrow rose a bit.

"Bones?"

"Yeah. I can't see you without thinking about that wind chime your ex would have made."

"The way your mind works should probably worry me more than it does."

"I could call you Windy instead, but it doesn't sound as awesome."

There was a definite wince at the alternate nickname.

"If I have to choose between those two nicknames, I'll go with Bones."

Kirk practically beamed.

"Excellent. We're off to a great start."

Kirk noticed then that McCoy had a hypospray in his hand and started laughing. McCoy's left eyebrow quirked even higher.

"What's so funny?"

"You. That hypospray. Tell me, were you contemplating your roommate possibly meeting with a little accident, Doctor?"

A few beats of silence passed before McCoy gave a small shrug.

"Maybe. I was expecting another Medical cadet. Still can't see as I can figure what's so funny about that."

"Well, it's funny because I had been outside contemplating about possible accidents for my roommate as well. Of course, I was expecting another Command cadet. You know, with you on the Medical track and me on the Command track, we wouldn't crimp each others style."

Giving that a moment of thought, McCoy gave a slow nod.

"I don't suppose we would at that."

The two men studied each other as they moved a little closer, though both were careful to stay slightly out of arm's reach. Kirk began speaking again first.

"Genius level mind. Extremely good in a fight, with or without weapons. I plan to be the Captain of my own ship in record time."

Acknowledging the information with a thoughtful nod, McCoy started his own recitation.

"Also genius level. Finished Med school in record time. Also a surgeon. I've already invented a few medical devices and innovated a few procedures. I know over five hundred poisons and how to use them. I know about as many ways to make a death look like natural causes."

Nodding himself, Kirk threw a question back.

"You and shuttle travel aren't exactly friendly. Are you sure that you want to subject yourself to living on a Starship full time?"

"Oh, I'll hate every second of it when I have time to think about it. But I've been thinking it over. My main passion is research. All the big discoveries? They are out there on some little planet in the black. The first man to find them and utilize them? That's the kind of power I want, Jim. Life and death. You?"

"I want more than this planet can offer. I want the kind of riches you can only get with a starship and a crew at your back."

That answer seemed to disappoint McCoy.

"You're just after money?"

"No, not really. The things you can get with it? That's another matter. I suppose my real goal is to eclipse my father's name so thoroughly that no-one even brings him up any more."

A smile played on McCoy's lips.

"Now there's a motive I can understand."

There was a pregnant pause before McCoy added.

"I suck at fighting. I can do it, but I don't end up getting the better of it usually."

The blue eyes were bright with possibilities as Kirk matched McCoy's smile.

"I suck at doing things discretely. Maybe we could make this work for us, Bones."

McCoy very deliberately put the hypospray away.

"Maybe we could at that, Jim. Truce?"

Kirk offered his hand.

"I'll offer you one better than that, Bones. An alliance. You keep me from getting poisoned, I keep you from getting beaten up. That sort of thing."

That statement earned him careful consideration by McCoy before the doctor took the offered hand.

"We should compare notes."

"We should. And we should do that over a drink."

"Fine. Soon as I look over those cuts of yours."

"Now?"

"Now. Just take a few minutes."

Since he'd already agree to it on the shuttle, Kirk submitted to the treatment without further argument. As McCoy tended to the injuries with a firm, steady hand, Kirk was already starting to catalogue the advantages of having a trained medical man in this corner.

"Hey Bones. How are you at treating STDs?"

That got a snort.

"Pretty good. With someone like you for a roommate though? I'd better brush up on them."

Kirk chuckled at that. Yes, this might just work.


	6. Part VI - Physical

**Part VI - Physical**

Kirk's first surprise of the second day at the Academy was when he woke up to find that McCoy was already gone. Kirk considered himself a light sleeper, so he wasn't sure how McCoy had managed to get up, get dressed and leave without waking him. Part of him was alarmed at that. If McCoy had wanted to do something to him, he would have been defenseless. Oddly enough, the rest of him really wasn't concerned. Which made him wonder if McCoy had already managed to slip him a 'happy pill' of some sort.

The second surprise of the day was when he entered Medical for his physical and heard an already familiar voice call out.

"I've got this one."

McCoy gestured Kirk into the examination room he was standing next to.

"Shirt and undershirt off, then hop up onto the biobed, kid."

Kirk started to comply, but stopped.

"Wait - can't the machines scan me through the clothing?"

"If you want a machine to dictate your health to you? Sure. You want **this** doctor to give you a clean bill of health, **this** doctor is going to look you over himself. Oh - sign this."

Blinking at the order, Kirk took the offered PADD.

"What's this?"

Continuing to look over what he was going to be using for the exam, McCoy spoke without turning around.

"You don't have a primary contact listed in case of emergency."

"That's because I don't have a primary contact."

"You do now. Me. If I'm going to be responsible for keeping you in shape, I want to be called any time that treatment is needed for whatever reason. It will also help prevent another doctor from dictating his own treatments without going through at least one of the two of us."

For a moment, Kirk studied McCoy, then he turned his attention down to the PADD, read it over quickly and signed it. Taking it back, McCoy gave it a quick glance and made a grunting noise that sounded vaguely like approval before setting it to the side.

"Now - off with the shirts."

Mentally shrugging to himself, Kirk pulled off the shirts and then contented himself to watch McCoy as if he was watching a wild animal in its natural surroundings. He was a bit surprised when the doctor began running his hands over one section of his upper body at a time. Even more surprising was the number of times those sensitive hands stopped at the site of a former injury, whether any external signs of that injury still remained or not.

After finishing his above the waist examination, McCoy finally began talking again.

"You know, your official medical records have holes in them that a shuttle could fly through. Skillfully done enough to prevent the computers from spotting them and putting up a flag, but obvious enough to someone that likes to check things out for themselves. Your work, I take it?"

Kirk's voice took on a decidedly chilly tone.

"There were things I didn't consider to be anyone else's business."

Neither that admission nor the tone seemed to bother McCoy in the least.

"So long as we can both agree that I need to know your full unedited history, I can follow behind you and fill in those holes so that no-one else that might look will see anything suspicious."

"What if I told you I didn't keep any of those records?"

"What if I told you that I didn't fall off of a turnip truck yesterday? I believe you're bright enough to hide the records. That means I also consider that you're intelligent enough to know those records might be important to your health one day."

Sighing, McCoy finally stopped doing anything else and turned to meet Kirk's blue eyes full on.

"Look, Jim - the only way this agreement thing of ours is going to work is if you trust me where Medical shit is concerned and I trust you where the crap involving physical shit is concerned."

The blue eyes studied McCoy intently for a moment before Kirk burst out laughing.

"You have a way with words, Doctor McCoy."

A snort answered that remark.

"Yeah, I'm the poet laureate of Peach County, Georgia."

"Peach County? Seriously?"

That earned Kirk an eye roll from McCoy.

"Like I'd make that up? Pike hauled my ass out of the county jail there."

It took McCoy a few moments to notice that Kirk seemed to freeze at that.

"What? Surely you can't be that shocked that I was in jail? The charges were faked, but by your record, you weren't exactly a model citizen yourself."

Kirk made an impatient wave with his hand.

"Not that jail stuff, Bones. Pike. You said Pike came to you?"

The emphasis was lost on McCoy and his confusion was obviously genuine.

"Yeah - so? You said you heard Pike shoving me onto the shuttle."

"Well, yeah, but I thought that was because he was in charge of the shuttle. I didn't know he was the one that recruited you."

"And what possible difference does that make?"

"He recruited me too."

"I still don't get it, Jim. What's the big deal? He's a recruiter - he recruited."

"You don't think that Pike might be after something where the two of us are concerned?"

"Hell, he's a Starfleet officer, Jim. Of course he's after something. Look, he might have thrown us together, but that's about the limit to what he could control. Yeah, you and me sort of clicked, but hell - even we couldn't have predicted that. Anybody had described you to me, I'd have bet on us hating each other on first sight."

Narrowing his eyes, Kirk re-thought over his initial meeting with McCoy and then their unexpected second meeting as roommates. Then he began to laugh again. While McCoy preferred an amused Kirk over an irritated one, the sudden shift had him narrowing his eyes.

"Care to let me in on the joke?"

Blue eyes practically dancing, Kirk rested his hands behind him on the biobed as he leaned back.

"You're right. Pike couldn't have known the two of us would have hit it off. Doesn't that make you wonder about what he might think of this?"

That question got a smile from McCoy.

"If he was after us killing each other, he's likely beating his head against the wall. If he actually preferred that we would have at least tolerated one another? Well then, he's either happier than a pig in slop or he's starting to wonder just what the hell he'd been thinking about when he decided to toss us together."

"Me? I'm thinking he may be getting more than he bargained for, Bones."

"Maybe so. Drop your pants."

"Whoa - now what?"

"I've only examined half of you, genius. Don't worry. I doubt you have anything I haven't seen before. And if you do, I've likely got a shot that can clear it up."

Eyes going steely, Jim lowered his pants with a slight flourish. Because he was James Kirk, dammit! He was not bashful about his body - even if he wasn't used to someone checking him over the way he'd check over a bike.

McCoy examined every inch of Kirk's lower body in the same forthright methodical fashion as he had the upper body. Kirk oddly found himself relaxing a bit. The clinical way McCoy was dealing with everything made his very exposed position feel less vulnerable somehow.

"Run any future conquests through a shower and then by me when you think about it. You could have avoided that scarring with a little prevention. Does it bother you?"

Kirk looked down at the top of McCoy's head.

"Bother how?"

"For pity's sake, kid. Does the scarring negatively affect your performance?"

"Oh. Never had any complaints."

"Don't guess we need to bother with it then."

It was a slightly unnerving sensation for Kirk and it felt as if everything he'd ever done was written on his body is some sort of braille that McCoy was able to read with his touch. It also suddenly dawned on him that since he was twelve, he'd never been this physically close to anyone without sex being involved in one form or another. He forced that thought down as McCoy lifted his right foot to examine, even checking his toenails and between his toes before giving the same detailed attention to his left foot.

McCoy allowed Kirk to lower his foot again and got up, moving to the nearby sink to wash his hands.

"You can slide your clothes back on if you like, Jim."

There was a definite mischievous tone in Kirk's response.

"What if I prefer not to?"

Drying his hands, McCoy glanced over his shoulder.

"Then just swing in the breeze, kid. Makes no nevermind to me. So - how many years ago was it that you went through a period of not enough food?"

The reaction from Kirk was so fast that McCoy was slightly disoriented when he was grabbed and shoved against the wall. Kirk got nose to nose with McCoy, a growl very plain in his voice as he spoke.

"Who the hell told you about that? I erased all of that from the records."

McCoy was startled by the vehemence in Kirk's voice, but he didn't cower from it.

"You want to know who told me? You told me. Or, more precisely, your body did. If a person skips a meal here and there, it's nothing in the overall scheme of things. But a prolonged period of poor nutrition? That leaves signs. All I had to do was read them."

Backing away slightly, Kirk looked a little stunned.

"Hell, you **were** reading braille."

Exasperated, McCoy gave Kirk enough of a shove so that he could move away from the wall.

"Am I going to need to hire a translator to understand what the hell you're talking about?"

Not answering immediately, Kirk paced for a minute before stopping and turning back to McCoy.

"Tell me what else you read. If you can really do that, that can't be the only thing you noticed."

Crossing his arms, McCoy pursed his lips for a moment, then gave a nod.

"Fine. You seem to have either been a bit of a daredevil or you were on somebody's bad side in your youth. You've had too many breaks and there's too much scarring for what I'd deem that a normal childhood would have provided. If I had to make a guess, I'd say your period of too much time between meals occurred in your teens and unfortunately coincided with a growth spurt that made the effects that much worse. Lasted at least six months, but I'd wager closer to a year. Also, there are a couple of little things here and there that would have been attended to by most docs while you were growing up if you'd had regular checkups, but they weren't. So I'd also guess that there was a certain amount of neglect in your upbringing."

The shaky breath Kirk took told McCoy all he needed to know about how accurate he was. Then Kirk seemed to suddenly recall his state of undress and moved to put his clothing back on.

"Bones . . ."

His voice trailed off as he pulled his dark undershirt over his head, then he looked back to McCoy and continued.

"Do I pass the physical?"

"Yep. You do."

Taking a deep breath, Kirk stepped up to McCoy again, who understandably tensed before Kirk simply laid a hand on his shoulder.

"The holes in my history? We'll talk once you're off-duty. Over drinks. Many, many drinks."

McCoy signaled his agreement by reaching over for the PADD and signing off on Kirk's physical.

"In our room or we finding a bar?"

"If my suspicions about Pike are right? A bar. A noisy one."

"As long as the seats aren't sticky and the whiskey's not watered."

That got a chuckle out of Kirk again and he gave McCoy's shoulder a pat before taking the PADD and leaving. As he exited Medical, he decided that if he was going to be telling McCoy about Tarsus IV, then he intended to hear the story about how McCoy ended up in jail in exchange. It was likely to be an interesting tale.


	7. Part VII - Bar

**Part VII - Bar**

After the physical was over came the other entrance tests. The questions seemed ridiculously easy to Kirk to the point that he began to wonder if he had misread something. But when he turned them in, he spotted Pike smiling smugly a few minutes later. From that, he assumed that he'd done pretty well on the tests.

By the time Kirk had finished lunch, his PADD gave a small beep to alert him to the downloading of his class schedule. A smirk formed on his face - definite proof that he'd passed the exams.

Entering the room that he and McCoy shared, Kirk tossed the PADD down onto his bed when he spotted something new on their table. Some time while they'd been away from the room, Pike had been in, leaving a note and a credit chip. 'If the two of you plan to go off-campus, at least get some civvies to wear. The cadet reds attract trouble like a magnet.'

Picking up the credit chip, Kirk looked around the room. At the moment, he had a few things, but he knew for a fact that beyond the issued uniforms, McCoy had only what he'd worn on the shuttle. A smile began to form. He could get McCoy's sizes from the system and he had at least a couple of hours to kill before McCoy came off-shift. Why not take the opportunity to get the doctor a set of clothes he'd like to see him in?

It was an hour later than Kirk expected McCoy would be when the doctor literally stumbled through the door, grunted something that might have been a greeting toward Kirk and headed straight for the bathroom. It was such a change from how McCoy had been earlier that Kirk followed behind, entering the bathroom behind McCoy without warning.

McCoy was leaning heavily, both hands gripping the sink. He didn't even bother to open his eyes before he growled.

"Don't you even knock?"

"Nope. So, why so rundown?"

Snorting, McCoy straightened enough to pull off his scrubs top that was soaked in both sweat and a variety of other less identifiable fluids.

"It took them about halfway into the shift to figure out that I don't have a protector. Went downhill from there pretty fast. Might've been better off starving in that damn cell after all."

"Hit the shower, then we'll go find that bar. You can explain that to me there."

"Sure. I could use a drink. Besides, after classes start tomorrow, I might not get another chance for awhile."

Filing that away as another comment to follow up on, Kirk exited back out of the bathroom, flopped into one of the chairs and waited. It didn't take long before McCoy finished, still drying off with a towel as he came into the main room. Apparently, bashfulness wasn't one of the doctor's traits either.

"I was thinking about it in there. Much as a drink sounds good, I'd better stay here. One, I'm exhausted and two, I've got nothing other than my uniforms."

"One, you'll sleep better if you take some time to unwind - two, do you want my medical history or don't you? - three, go look on your bed."

Kirk was beginning to expect that eyebrow to rise whenever he caught McCoy off-guard. Like now. McCoy picked up the first item of clothing, which happened to a civilian shirt the same color of blue as the science uniform.

"What's all this?"

"Just a change of clothes, Bones. Courtesy of Pike and no, I don't know why he bothered. Now come on and get dressed. There's still enough on this credit chip for us both to drink our fill."

Fingering the top for a moment longer, McCoy finally shrugged.

"What the hell - beats running around in scrubs."

McCoy proved to be a no-fuss dresser and it wasn't long before he was putting on his boots. Black jeans, black leather boots and an equally black leather jacket were what Kirk had picked to go with the blue shirt.

"Except for the jacket, I look like I'm wearing a civilian's idea of the uniform."

"That was kind of the idea, Bones. I was wondering what you'd look like once we got out into the black."

"Wait - I thought you said that clothes were from Pike."

"The money for them was. Same thing."

McCoy's eyes narrowed, but? The clothing fit, they didn't make him look like a clown and he really preferred getting a drink to fighting. So, all things considered, he just sighed, stopped for a moment to attach a small medkit to his belt and headed for the door.

As he got out of the chair, Kirk gave the kit a speculative glance.

"Do you always take a medkit with you to a bar?"

"Do you always ask questions? The answer to both is yes. Since you've got the credit chip, you're buying, Jim."

Kirk fell in behind McCoy, soon moving up to walking beside him. The first bar they spotted off the campus was obviously tailored to the Empire's newest recruits. It was bright, shiny and filled with cadets, most of whom were under 22. Kirk and McCoy exchanged one brief look and walked on. A couple of the cadets inside spotted the pair as they moved past, then exited to follow.

Five blocks later, they came across one that McCoy deemed had character - which Kirk translated as 'looks old enough for our grandparents to have drank here'. Still, once they step inside, the tables aren't on top of one another and there's an acceptable level of noise that would make casual eavesdropping difficult. Kirk shrugged his agreement and headed toward a vacant table as far away from the door as he could manage. One of the servers was there shortly after they sat. Jim handed her the chip.

"Beer for me and - what did you want to go with, Bones?"

"Bourbon."

"And bourbon for him. Keep us refilled and bring us a plate of whatever passes for snacks here."

She simply nodded her understanding and moved off immediately. McCoy approved.

"Never could stand for someone to stand there and tell me their life's story when all I wanted was a damn drink."

The server quickly gained Kirk's approval as well when she had a sampler plate of snacks and their first round of drinks delivered in just a few minutes.

"Just let me know what you like from the plate and I'll bring you some more of it."

That said, she whisked off to another table as McCoy sampled his drink.

* * *

In another part of town, Pike was receiving an alert on his PADD. Taking a glance at the message, he chuckled and offered the PADD across the table to Puri.

"Using the credit chip you gave him for drinks out in town, eh? Not exactly a shock."

"No, it isn't. Not exactly a shock that the pair of them avoided the bar right off campus either. So, you re-introduce yourself to McCoy yet?"

"Not yet and I don't intend to for his first year, Chris."

Pike paused in mid-reach for his drink.

"You aren't letting it be known that you're his patron, Raj?"

"No, Chris. Getting someone in as a cadet with McCoy's credentials? Not likely to ever happen again. I want to see what my people do when they're faced with real talent. If they try to make use of it or bury it."

"You already know which they're more likely to do."

Taking a sip of his own drink, Puri nodded.

"I know. But this is quite possibly my best chance to prove to the Admiralty that we're losing potential good doctors to the vain and incompetent that are running the schools. There's enough time for the damn cutthroat games once they graduate. With McCoy, they can't claim that he tested above his ability to perform."

Another alert drew Pike's attention and Puri handed him the PADD back. Pike looked over the alert and cursed. Raj sighed and sat his drink back down.

"Who's being an idiot now, Chris?"

"Part of the new batch I came in with. I already had to have several of them boothed, so I had tracer chips placed in all of them while they were still too disoriented to notice. I didn't tell them about the chips, but I did tell them their limits. Two of them have gone past the limit."

Studying the signals coming from the chips, he groaned.

"Guess which bar they're at?"

"Same as Kirk and McCoy?"

"Good guess. Care to accompany me?"

"Sure. I haven't had a chance to see either of our toys in action yet. Should I get a detail to go with us?"

"No, our bodyguards should be sufficient. And if they prove not to be, they'll be replaced. I don't want a bodyguard that can be bested by a first year cadet."

* * *

At the bar, McCoy was on his second bourbon and Kirk on his third beer when Kirk decided it was time to start the questioning.

"So - why is it you probably won't be coming out drinking with me after tomorrow."

Lifting his glass, McCoy studied the contents before downing them and holding the empty aloft to signal for another.

"Main reason is that I doubt I'll have time. I've been informed that I'm expected to pull a full shift at the hospital in addition to my classes. Since classes are eight hours a day and the shifts are eight hours? Means I've got to cram eating, homework and sleeping into the remaining eight hours. And when we have days off from studies, I'll be on call for extra shifts. Plus, as the new low man on the totem pole, I'll be getting all the shit jobs no-one else wants to touch."

The server dropped off both another bourbon and a fresh beer. Kirk didn't pay attention to her - his focus was all on McCoy. He knew his own class schedule was murder, but that was because he was doing the four year of study in three. Even so, he wasn't doing more than twelve hours a day and he'd still have days off.

"I don't get it, Bones. Are they trying to make you fail?"

McCoy lifted his fresh glass in salute.

"Right on the first guess, Jim. You think the best of Starfleet Medical is here? Hell, this is where they stick the ones that couldn't hack it on a Starship. The ones that are incompetent, burnt-out or too crippled to be of use to the Empire anywhere else. Why do you think men like Pike have their own doctors? Why do you think I had you sign that form? You get one enemy with money and those guys would 'accidentally' give you some shit you're allergic to. And in your case, they wouldn't even have to search hard to find something."

The blue eyes became stormy as Kirk shook his head.

"I still don't get it. I know there have to be decent doctors in Starfleet."

"There are, Jim. They're on the main ships and the better Starbases. I'm pretty sure if you checked, the vast majority of them are either from rich families or from families with a long lineage of service to the Empire. Anyone like that went through the Academy with a known powerful patron or mentor as their protector - instructors would know better than to even sneeze their way."

"And you?"

"Me? I'm just a country doctor really, Jim. One who had a father that talked me into something that I wish I'd been old enough to know better about doing. Eh, water under the bridge. Suffice to say that by the time I did know what was in my best interests, no patron with an ounce of self-preservation would have touched me. My ex's family pretty well owns every inch of Peach County. Once things went sour, everybody knew not to touch me with a ten-foot pole."

This time the snort came from Kirk.

"Pike wouldn't have been interested in 'just a country doctor'. Besides, that doesn't quite match what you told me when we were introduced."

"No. Don't suppose it does. Tell me something, Jim. Does four beers affect your reaction time in a fight?"

"Not by much. Why? Oh. Are you talking about those jokers that followed us here?"

"Yep. Good. I was starting to worry about you handling the physical end if you hadn't picked up on that. I recognize two of them from the shuttle ride. Don't know the other four with them."

"Same here, Bones. Hmm - six to one odds."

"Five to one, Jim."

"How do you figure that?"

"I figure I'll take one of them off of your hands."

The sarcasm was thick in Kirk's reply.

"Gee thanks."

McCoy ignored the sarcasm and just let his drawl get a touch thicker.

"You're welcome, Jim. Anything for my roommate."

Then Kirk yelped as a hypospray went off against his skin. He wheeled on McCoy, eyes flashing, but he hesitated when he saw McCoy applying the same hypo to himself.

"What the hell was that for?"

"You said the beers wouldn't affect you much. Which means they would affect you some. So - I've sobered us both up. Which makes me very cranky and I won't play nice with these idiots. Made me waste the after effects of perfectly good bourbon."

Blinking, Kirk realized that his head was clearer than it had been just a minute before. Then he gave an unpleasant smile as the six men headed their direction.

"You know, Bones, I'm beginning to get a clearer picture of the advantages of teaming up with a doctor."

"Peachy. We'll discuss this more afterwards."

The hypospray that had been in McCoy's hand was tucked away and another took its place. With his other hand, McCoy picked his glass of bourbon back up, but he didn't take a drink. He just continued to hold it as the foremost of the six reached the table. Kirk tensed, but to his surprise, McCoy seemingly stayed relaxed as he swirled the alcohol in his glass and spoke to him.

"Something I can do for you, friend?"

The cadet's attention had been focused on Kirk, so the question from McCoy seemed to throw him for a moment. He recovered quickly though.

"Mind your own business. Our business is with him."

"No can do. Speaking as a doctor, I recommend for the health of you and your companions that you leave now."

The cadet took a long look at McCoy and then started laughing, turning to Kirk.

"You've picked a funny companion, Kirk. He thinks the two of you can take on the six of us?"

The man turning his attention to Kirk was all the opening McCoy needed. The speed with which the hypospray was used on the cadet startled Kirk, but not as much as the scream that emerged from the cadet a few seconds later. He dropped to the floor immediately after that, whimpering. Looking up with a smile that might have been taken as pleasant under other circumstances, McCoy addressed the other cadet that he recognized from the shuttle.

"Now, your friend here ignored my clear advice regarding the health benefits of turning around and getting the hell out of this bar under his own power. Are you and the other boys as careless about your health as he was?"

All of their eyes were still focused on the man on the floor when a sharp whistle came from the doorway. Kirk recognized that whistle and looked up as Pike strode into the room with another officer close behind. The whistle drew McCoy's attention as well and he gave Kirk a light nudge.

"That one following Pike is his doctor - Rajinder Puri. Been to one of his lectures. Don't piss in his cornflakes."

Kirk gave McCoy a long look.

"Your sayings are going to take some getting used to, Bones."

Before McCoy could respond back to that, Pike was there, looking down at the cadet writhing on the floor. When he heard the soft sound of Puri's chuckle, Pike's attention when straight to McCoy.

"Care to explain what happened to Cadet Delseder, Cadet McCoy?"

The drawl was less pronounced, but still distinct as McCoy gave Delseder an unconcerned glance.

"There isn't much to explain, Captain Pike. I gave my fellow cadet some sound medical advice and he chose to ignore it."

"I see. And what exactly do you suppose is wrong with him?"

Leaning over a bit to take a closer look at the man on the floor, McCoy gave a small shrug.

"Of course, without a thorough examination, I'm just making an educated guess, Captain, but if I were to venture a guess, I'd say it looks a lot like a case of what I've heard some call the Tellerite Twist."

"Is it fatal?"

"Never heard of it being lethal. Heard a few say death was preferable."

Pike glanced over to his companion.

"That something you can cure, Doctor Puri?"

"Most certainly, Captain Pike. Of course, the full course of treatment is rather unpleasant in itself."

Nodding at the piece of information, Pike suddenly turned to face one of the other cadets.

"Cadet Fleming - are you hard of hearing?"

Fleming finally pried his eyes away from Delseder.

"Sir?"

Pike's gaze went colder.

"The questions aren't going to get any easier, Fleming. Are - you - hard - of - hearing?"

"Sir! No, Sir!"

"Then would you care to explain to me why you and Delseder are in this part of town? Against my express orders?"

After Fleming stammered for a minute, Pike held up one hand to stop him.

"From that, I take it that there was no good reason for disobeying my orders. Obviously, I was far too lenient with the two of you."

The icy gaze turned on the other four.

"Unless the rest of you are interested in sharing the punishment for this pair, I would advise you to find somewhere else to be."

The other four cadets practically ran over one another in their haste to leave. Kirk noticed that McCoy was watching them as closely as he was. The names of those four weren't known to them yet, but their faces were.

Pike noted their gazes with a smirk, but didn't comment. Instead he turned to Puri.

"Doctor Puri, if you would be so kind as to see that Cadet Delseder is transported to Academy Medical."

"Of course, Captain Pike. This would be an excellent opportunity for our newer students to get a first hand look at this particular disease."

A minute later, both Puri and Delseder were disappearing in a transporter beam. Pike turned back to Kirk and McCoy.

"I'll be returning to the Academy now to go over the penalties for disobeying a direct order with Cadet Fleming. Enjoy the rest of your evening - oh, and don't forget the curfew for first year cadets."

Kirk responded to that comment.

"We won't, Sir."

After another transporter beam removed Pike and Fleming from the bar, their server came back over with a fresh beer and another glass of bourbon. "On the house. The owner is very grateful that you stopped the fight before it started."

Kirk gave her a smile that McCoy could already tell was going to be trouble as she blushed like a school girl - and her school years were long behind her. After she left, Kirk gave McCoy another long studying look.

"Do I even want to know how that disease got the nickname of twist?"

Polishing off what had been left of his other drink, McCoy shook his head.

"Trust me - you're happier not knowing. But as I said before - run 'em through a shower, then run 'em by me. Your body parts will thank you for it."


	8. Part VIII - Retrospective

**Part VIII - Retrospective**

Taking a swig of beer as he rethought over the incident with Delseder, Kirk gave McCoy a speculative look.

"You know, alien variety or not, I've never heard of any sex-based disease that affected anyone that quickly."

Giving a small shrug, McCoy took a sip of his own drink before replying.

"Naturally? No, they do take a little longer than that. In the case of that particular strain, I think 24-48 hours in the normal time for initial symptoms to appear. However, mix a little disease in with a few boosters and accelerators? You can get some mighty interesting results."

"Do I even want to know how you managed to tinker with it to perfect that?"

"Let's just say that during my internship, some of the other interns learned that I'd take backtalk from one of the doctors, but not from their sorry asses."

That got a chuckle out of Kirk.

"What? Is that how you ended up in jail?"

"Not even close. That was my ex's doing. Like I said before, her family practically owns Peach County. Her kin hold every elected office - including the Sheriff and the Judge. They didn't need such paltry things as evidence when everybody's word was good but mine."

Recalling that McCoy had mentioned starving to death in a cell, Kirk figured that was their way of punishing him for his ex's demise, so he just nodded. When they got to know each other better, he might ask about how he did away with her. For now, he just shifted to his other question.

"So how did Pike get you out?"

Taking another sip, McCoy gave Kirk a look.

"I take it you don't know all the powers and entitlements that go with being an official recruiter for the Empire. They have the right to pull anyone they want into the service who's imprisoned for any reason - whether jaywalking or murder. The sheriff had the option of letting him take me or being charged with treason for disobeying an Imperial law. Now, I believe I was promised a fill-in on your medical history."

That statement had Kirk taking a long drink of his beer. Looking at the table instead of at McCoy, he began by asking a question.

"Do you remember hearing about Tarsus IV?"

"Hold on."

Puzzled, Kirk looked up to see McCoy signaling to their server for another round.

"Sorry - figured we'd both need another before you finished and I'd hate for you to have to stop partway through to wait for a refill. Yeah. I remember. My father ranted about that situation for a full month."

They both fell silent again as the drinks were dropped off, then McCoy continued.

"From the question, I assume that is the reason for some of the holes?"

"Yeah. Did you know that Kodos was the one that caused the crops to fail? He liked to think of himself as a genius. He was going to innovate how crops were raised throughout the Imperial colonies. Then his experiment backfired and instead of increasing yields by over 50%, he killed over 75% of the crops. Worse, the ground was tainted by the treatment he'd ordered and trying to replant the fields failed. If he'd stuck with a test field first, but no. He used it on all the fields. The colony was doomed, but he did his best to hide who was responsible for dooming it."

"How is it that you know so many of the details, Jim?"

"My uncle was one of the overseers of the farms. He was uneasy about that stuff Kodos ordered to be used on all the farms."

Mulling over that remark, McCoy frowned.

"Why didn't he question it then?"

Kirk gave a rueful laugh.

"You obviously never met Kodos. His second in command suggested - just suggested, mind you - that the formula should be used on a small scale first. He had an 'accident' the following day. Kodos didn't take criticism well, so my uncle and the other overseers followed Kodos' orders about spraying the fields with the experimental mix because they knew that not doing it was a death sentence and my uncle figured, you know, worse case scenario, drops would be normal or the yield reduced a little. Even the most skeptical of the overseers didn't expect the devastation."

Pausing to finish off his beer, Kirk shook his head.

"Not that going along with what Kodos wanted saved them. My uncle and my aunt were among the four thousand executed, along with all of the overseers and their spouses. He even executed the scientists and the laboratory workers that he had ordered to make the stuff."

McCoy let out a low whistle.

"So the massacre was actually a cover-up instead of a lousy attempt at a preventive measure? Kodos was a bigger bastard than even my father gave him credit for. Do you buy that he actually killed himself?"

Snorting, Kirk pushed his empty beer to the side and reached for the next one.

"I'd buy that you're an Orion slave girl in disguise before I'd buy that fable. He did what he always did - covered his tracks and managed to do it well for once. At the cost of someone else's life, as usual. Nobody's life meant anything to him but his own. So, why was your father so hot against Kodos?"

"You aren't the only one that lost kin on Tarsus IV, kid. I never met them myself, but my father lost his favorite cousin on his momma's side in that massacre. He'd have been even hotter if he'd known the real reason. Damn waste. So - you ever think about tracking old Kodos down?"

"It was all I dreamed about for a year. Then I realized the odds against me ever managing to actually find where he ran off to and - I won't say I still wouldn't like to have payback, but I don't dwell on it any more."

Nodding approval, McCoy sipped his drink again.

"Right way to go about it, kid. Take your revenge when you can - let it stew on a back burner when you can't."

"What's with all this 'kid' stuff? You can't be that damn much older than I am."

"Did you run calling me 'Bones' past me? No, you did not. You gave me a nickname - I gave you one. Evens out."

Chuckling, Kirk saluted McCoy with his beer.

"This roommate thing might not be so bad. You going to mind me bringing someone into our rooms for sex?"

"Two conditions: not on my bed and I'm not leaving the room if I have something to do."

"You can even watch. Doesn't bother me."

"I have trouble imagining much of anything bothering you, kid."

The server was passing by and Kirk waved her over.

"We'll be stopping with these drinks. We have to get back before curfew."

"Hold on."

Digging in a pocket, McCoy pulled out his flask.

"Mind having this filled with the same bourbon brand you've been bringing me tonight?"

As she headed off with the flask, Kirk gave McCoy another grin.

"Plan on sharing any of that?"

"Sharing that with you is how it got empty in the first place, but since I prefer drinking with someone to drinking alone, yeah - I'll continue to share."

When the server handed back the flask along with the credit chip, McCoy passed the chip back over to Kirk and reached into the medkit at his belt again. Leaning forward a bit, Kirk watched with open curiosity as he pulled out a small device and ran it over the flask. After a minute, McCoy nodded in satisfaction and put both the device and the flask away.

"What was that for, Bones?"

"Just making sure that the only thing they put in there was bourbon. Got caught out once and was lucky that the idiot misjudged how much of a dose it would take for a man my size. Once was plenty."

"Where did you get that?"

That got another eye-roll from McCoy.

"You think I picked it up from the corner drug store? I made it."

Eyes bright, Kirk looked at the pocket the device has disappeared into.

"Think you could rig me up one of those?"

"If I had the money to buy the needed parts - which I don't - and enough free time - which I also don't - then yeah. I could."

"How about if I manage to get the parts?"

"There would still be that little thing about me needing sleep now and again, but sure. Might take awhile, but it would probably save me time in the long run if I don't have to figure out what the hell you've ingested as often."

Polishing off the remainder of his beer, Kirk got to his feet. McCoy finished what was left of his glass and joined him.

"Tomorrow morning's going to come awfully damn early. I hope those other four idiots had the sense to go away. I don't feel like dealing with an ambush tonight."

"Me either, Bones. Which means if I do have to deal with them, I won't be nice."

"Neither will I. Think we'd get a reprimand so long as it's still off-campus?"

"Only if we get caught, Bones."

"Hell, no worries then, Jim."


	9. Part IX - Persuasion

**Part IX - Persuasion**

Kirk and McCoy settled quickly into the routine of the Academy. It didn't take long for Kirk to see what McCoy had been talking about in terms of his free time. The classes at the Academy were intense and demanding, both mentally and physically. But despite that, McCoy was scheduled to take a shift at the hospital starting only one hour after classes ended for the day, giving McCoy barely enough time to eat something, shower and change before starting work.

On the plus side (so far as Kirk was concerned), when McCoy came off shift and slid into study mode, he couldn't have asked for a better study partner. For the first time that he could recall, Kirk was dealing with someone who was his intellectual equal on a daily basis - something deep within him responded to that before Kirk even consciously realized what was happening. McCoy's specialty might have been medical, but the man had a broad range of interests and had an opinion - an informed opinion - on a vast array of topics. It was as it Kirk's brain had been living on bread and water, then suddenly was introduced to a five-star buffet. The nagging boredom that had plagued him his entire life vanished as did his doubts about ending up in Starfleet. Now that his brain felt fully awake and stimulated, Kirk never wanted to go back to that numb feeling he'd had while lying on the grass in Iowa, staring at the sky.

To his own surprise, Kirk found himself making accommodations for McCoy. While Kirk had a steady stream of sexual partners, he made sure they always left before McCoy's shifts ended so that McCoy could get his study and sleep in with as little distraction as possible. He even got in the habit of picking up McCoy's meal rations for him when he started noticing his roommate was losing weight from being too tired to go stand in line.

Still, even with Kirk's efforts, McCoy was showing ever increasing signs of exhaustion. Despite that, several of Kirk's opponents had come down with mysterious medical ailments - tired or not, McCoy was meticulous about holding up what he considered to be his end of their bargain.

After they passed the six week mark, Kirk decided he had waited long enough for things to straighten out. It was time that the Medical staff found out that McCoy might not have a standard protector, but he wasn't without backup. After all, so far as Kirk was concerned, he had found the perfect wingman - McCoy's only flaw being his inability to hit the local bars with him. That had to change.

By this point, Kirk's name was known around the campus and not simply from the association with his father. Kirk had shown himself to have quick fists, but an even quicker mind. His frequent trips to Medical for McCoy to patch him up after altercations meant he was as well known in Medical as he was on the more academic side of campus. Even more known once the doctors made note that however bad Kirk looked when he came in, his opponents always looked far worse.

All of that added up to it causing a jolt of fear when the doctor in charge of scheduling heard the door to his office open and found himself suddenly alone in the room with Kirk. Doctor Tomas started sweating as Kirk paused to lock the door before saying so much as a word. The sight of the man's obvious nerves made Kirk smile broadly - that barracuda smile that conveyed threat better than most people's scowls did.

"Doctor Tomas, isn't it? I know with the rush of a new Academy class starting, some things get neglected, but I thought I'd bring it to your attention that my roommate, Doctor McCoy, hasn't had so much as one day off since the beginning of classes."

Despite his nerves, Tomas' eyes narrowed.

"McCoy is on the Medical track - you're on the Command track. Why would you care?"

Kirk had come prepared for that question or some variation on the theme.

"I care because Doctor McCoy and I have several classes in common. Classes that I use him as a tutor for. He gotten so tired recently that he's becoming useless to me. Do you have any idea how unhappy that makes me to have his services unavailable when I want them?"

'Tutoring' was a common Academy euphemism for using a classmate as a cheat in a class or on a test, so Kirk knew he was implying to Tomas that McCoy was part of the reason for his scores all being at the top of his classes. Better that than for Tomas to think there was anything personal between Kirk and McCoy. Because really, there wasn't anything personal. At least, that was what Kirk was telling himself that as he leaned forward a bit.

""Now, there's a three day break in classes starting tomorrow. If McCoy were to be off the hospital rotation for at least two of those days, I bet he might get enough rest to be useful to me again. Which would make me happier. And I thought I'd let you know that I'm holding you personally responsible for my happiness, Doctor Tomas."

"Are you threatening me, Cadet Kirk?"

Kirk actually laughed at that question.

"Me? I never threaten, Doctor Tomas. Ask anyone. Oh, and if you would give me a copy of McCoy's schedule for the next few days, I'll make sure that he gets it."

Then Kirk snapped his fingers as if suddenly remembering something.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Check Admissions. Room 461, if I'm not mistaken."

Tomas hesitated slightly as he caught the glint in the blue eyes watching him, then he slowly reached over to his intercom.

"Admissions, this is Doctor Tomas. Could you tell me who has been admitted to room 461?"

"Yes, Doctor. That would be Lieutenant Graham. He was admitted late last night with a concussion and a broken leg."

It took a moment for Tomas to remember to sign off from Admissions. Graham had been a recurring thorn in Tomas' side for months, but it was unnerving to him that Kirk had somehow found out about that. If he knew that, what other things might Kirk have discovered. Swallowing hard as Tomas turned back to him, he saw Kirk's smile widen a bit.

"See? Consider keeping me in a happy mental state as being a good thing, Doctor Tomas. Now - that schedule?"

Late that evening, or actually early morning, as McCoy drug himself into their room, he considered the only highpoint was that he might get to sleep for more than two hours straight since there weren't going to be classes for a few days. He didn't pay attention to anything in the room as he made a beeline for the bathroom to rinse off a few layers of the grime that he felt had attached to his skin.

A few minutes later and McCoy staggered slightly as he emerged from the bathroom, damp and still rubbing a towel against his hair. Since Kirk was likely asleep, he didn't bother turning up the lights, negotiating his way to his bed by memory alone. It wasn't until he sat on his bed and felt that something was already there that he realized anything was different. Then the thing on the bed moved and he dropped the towel as he jumped back off of his bed. At the sound of McCoy's yelp, Kirk started giggling - actual giggling - and ordered the lights up ten percent.

Also giggling was what, or rather who, was in McCoy's bed. Which turned out to be an Orion woman with velvet green skin and red hair who was wearing nothing but nail polish and a smile. McCoy immediately turned to his roommate - who was now imitating a hyena.

"What is this, Jim?"

"Wow - it **has** been awhile for you, hasn't it, Bones? That would be a woman. More specifically, this is Gaila, the young lady from my Engineering class I've told you about."

Propping herself up slightly, the redhead was studying McCoy very intently. At which time he recalled that he wasn't even wearing nail polish.

"Hi, Leonard. Nice to meet you. Jim's told me so much about you."

Her eyes roved a bit further down and her smile increased.

"He left out a few details though. Not that I mind being pleasantly surprised. I can see where you got your nickname."

Finding himself flushing (not blushing, thank you very much), McCoy turned on Kirk again.

"Dammit, Jim - what did I say about my bed?"

"You said I couldn't have sex there. I didn't think you'd mind having it there yourself."

That stopped McCoy cold.

"Excuse me?"

"Gaila's not here for me, Bones - she's here for you."

Shifting his attention back to the woman still occupying his bed, McCoy couldn't say that he wasn't highly tempted. It **had** been awhile. Longer than Kirk likely suspected, but after another minute, a slightly mournful sigh emerged.

"You have no idea how much I regret saying this, Miss - but I'm too damn tired. Plus I've got to be back on shift at the hospital in about five hours."

Gaila just hummed slightly as she patted the bed next to her.

"I know you're tired. Jim's told me all about what they've been putting you through. But don't you worry about a thing. You just lay down and let me take care of everything."

Kirk chimed in while he got into a more comfortable viewing position..

"Besides, you're off the schedule for the rest of today and all of tomorrow as well, Bones. Let Gaila help you release some of that built up tension, then you can get some sleep. After that, you and I are going to hit a few bars together."

"I'm - what? How did you?"

His tired mind really was having trouble keeping up with everything, but he didn't resist when the green hands reached up to take hold of him and gently guided him back down to the bed. Kirk chuckled again.

"Relax, Bones. Remember our agreement - you handle the medical end, I handle the physical end. Consider this part of my end of the bargain."

What little protest remained died without much of a fight as Gaila's fingers began a skillful combination of massaging and teasing. In the back of his mind, he wondered briefly if he'd pissed Kirk off somehow and this was Kirk's way to get him offguard to kill him. Then Gaila's hands shifted and the forefront of his brain forcefully told the back that there were far worse ways to go. A moment later, both halves of his mind agreed to shut up and enjoy.


	10. Part X - Developments

**Part X - Developments**

When consciousness began to return to McCoy, it proved to be the aroma of food that was coaxing him out of the best sleep he'd had since his marriage turned sour. As he stretched, he noticed two things. The area beside him still held the warmth and pleasant scent of Gaila, but the woman herself was gone.

Yawning, he rolled over and forced his eyes open. Kirk was sitting at the table, munching on something that smelled delicious. Looking up to see McCoy looking at him, Kirk smirked and saluted him with his coffee cup.

"I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to try and wake you. Feeling better?"

Easing into a sitting position, McCoy gave a slow nod.

"Yeah, I do. Though I about feel like my bones got turned to jelly."

"Gaila can do that to a man. Never been exposed to Orion pheromones before?"

"Nope. First time."

Finally able to fully focus on his roommate, McCoy noted the smirk and then remembered that Kirk had been there. The entire time. Groaning, McCoy let his head fall into his hands as Kirk began to chuckle.

"You're a few hours too late for performance anxiety, Bones. Come on over and get something to eat while it's still warm."

McCoy gave a sigh that Kirk translated as 'what the hell?' as he got up, grabbing a pair of pants to slip on as he headed for the table. As he settled down and reached for the second plate which contained something resembling an omelet, McCoy decided to shift the conversation.

"Not that I particularly mind going to a bar with you, Jim, but why drag me along?"

"Are you kidding? Now that we're getting your schedule under control, you're going to be my wingman. You're perfect for it."

Another sigh emerged as McCoy started eating which just seemed to amuse Kirk further.

"Cheer up, Bones. You'll be able to pick up some moves from the master."

That earned Kirk an eye roll.

"What makes you think I want to pick up moves - or anything else?"

Tsking, Kirk grabbed a glass of juice.

"I saw you last night, Bones. You were practically shy. With an Orion. That leads me to believe your experiences have been, shall we say, limited?"

McCoy bristled a bit, but didn't deny it.

"I was too damn busy in school to worry with chasing girls."

Laughter came from Kirk as he shook his head.

"A doctor who never played doctor as a kid. What a waste."

When McCoy just continued to eat and didn't make a comment back, Kirk knew he'd hit a sore spot. Usually that meant he'd continue in the same line, but this time? He didn't feel like antagonizing McCoy. Hell, his roommate was getting enough grief from the bozos at Medical.

"You don't know it yet, but you'll like being my wingman even if you don't feel like pursuing the ladies. You get to drink off my credit chip and all you have to do is run interference if needed and possible patch me up a little if a fight breaks out."

"Fights break out often around you, do they? Hell, I don't really have to ask that, do I? First damn time we went to a bar together, there was a fight."

"No, there was an almost fight. You pretty much have them scared off even before Pike walked in. Come on - eat up, clean up, get dressed and let's get the hell off campus for awhile."

"Little early yet for bar hopping, isn't it?"

"So? You ever been to San Francisco before? Well, me neither. Let's get a look around while it's still light out."

That day, something shifted in the dynamic between Kirk and McCoy. Even without saying the words, McCoy began following Kirk's lead. He might protest or complain, but if it was something Jim decided he really wanted to do, McCoy eventually went along.

The change was noted on campus as well. The other cadets began thinking of them as a unit. One of the instructors noted that connection and decided it needed to be broken up.

Kirk and McCoy were leaving the main building together when a clipped voice called out to them.

"Cadets Kirk and McCoy. I would like to have words with both of you."

The pair turned in perfect unison, but Kirk's expression contained more surprise than McCoy's did. The person speaking to them was one of the few non-human instructors at the Academy. He was a half-Vulcan who had managed to both keep alive and impress the Empire enough to successfully graduate despite what many would have considered the drawback of his mixed heritage. McCoy responded first.

"Is there something we can do for you, Lieutenant Commander Spock?"

"Not in particularly, Cadet McCoy. I simply wished to inform both of you that in the future, the two of you will be seated in separate areas of any classes that you attend in common."

Kirk's eyes narrowed at that, but McCoy continued speaking before he could say anything.

"Really? And why would you or anyone else care about our seating arrangements?"

From Spock's stance stiffening, it was apparent that he had not expected to be questioned and seemed to feel it somewhat beneath him to have to explain.

"The two of you are said to be making use of one another's skills to unfairly complete your classes."

The tell-tale sign of annoyance came out in McCoy's voice as his drawl became more pronounced.

"Helping each other study is a rule violation now?"

"The play at naivety does not become you. I am referring to cheating."

"I know what you're referring to. And as my grandpappy used to say, I'm calling bullshit. Sir."

Spock's eyebrow canted in a way that reminded Kirk so much of the way McCoy tended to speak with his eyebrows that he couldn't help but find it funny. He stifled a laugh, but not quite well enough as he drew both McCoy and Spock's gaze. Deciding that whatever was amusing Kirk didn't concern him, Spock turned his attention back toward McCoy.

"Am I to assume from your statement that you deny it?"

Kirk found his voice then.

"Of course he denies it. We both deny it. If you believe it, prove it."

That gained Spock's full attention.

"Prove it?"

"Yes. You obviously believe that one of us isn't passing our classes on our own merits. So prove it."

The Vulcan's dark eyes narrowed slightly.

"What form of proof are you requesting?"

"Well, unless you believe that the two of us are telepathically connected, question us on the material separately. If we can still answer your questions, then we know the materials for ourselves and there's no need to separate us."

Spock look from one to the other as if not quite believing what Kirk was suggesting.

"You wish me to test your individual knowledge?"

"Why wouldn't you want to? Either you prove you're right to suspect something or you prove there isn't anything to be concerned about. Unless, of course, you're in the habit of punishing cadets for unsubstantiated rumors."

"I do not see where altering your seating arrangements could be considered in the line of a punishment."

McCoy re-entering the conversation at that point.

"Oh really? Well, I can guarantee that is exactly the way that all of our fellow cadets will view it. Even if you don't consider it punishment, separating study partners seems rather illogical."

The use of the word 'illogical' seemed to affect Spock more than anything else that had been said. A slight smile formed on McCoy's face. 'Gotcha, you pompous ass'. Sure enough, Spock gave way.

"Very well. If you are free, we will conduct the testing now."

Kirk and McCoy exchanged looks, then looked back to Spock in unison as Kirk spoke. "Not exactly free, but if you'd care to excuse us from the lecture we're scheduled to be at in ten minutes, I have no problem with it."

With a smile that could almost have looked innocent on his face, McCoy nodded as well.

"Me either. No time like the present, right, Lieutenant Commander? That way you don't have to worry about us sneaking off and studying for your quiz."

Still having the feeling that the pair was pulling something - though what he could not imagine - Spock gave a curt nod as well.

"Very well. I will send word to the lecture hall that the two of you are excused from attending. Follow me."

As Spock turned to lead the two cadets back inside, he immediately noticed that the three of them were being watched by Captain Pike, who was wearing an expression of extreme amusement. That was puzzling to Spock as well as a source of concern. Captain Pike had already made it clear to Spock that he was considering the Vulcan as a serious candidate for one of the senior officer positions aboard the Enterprise when she launched in approximately two more years. Possibly even the First Officer position.

Hesitating uncharacteristically for a moment, Spock made his decision.

"Go inside and await me. I will contact the lecture hall and then join you."

Neither Kirk or McCoy commented, simply heading on inside as Spock waited until they had entered the building to move over to where Captain Pike was still standing.

"Captain Pike."

"Lieutenant Commander Spock. Is there some problem with the cadets?"

"Possibly, sir. Cadets Kirk and McCoy are opposed to efforts to separate them in their joint classes."

The bemused look was still on Pike's face.

"Is there any reason that they need to be separated?"

"There has been some talk of possible cheating, sir."

The laughter coming from Pike at that deepened the feeling Spock had that he was missing something.

"Have you looked over their jackets yet, Spock?"

"No, sir. Since my only intended action was to inform them of the chances in seating, I had not thought it necessary."

"To sum up the important part, if you were to take the entire Academy into consideration - instructors included - those two would be in the top 5% in regards to their aptitude scores. More likely in the top 2%. I can guarantee you that if either is cheating, it would be due to boredom rather than ability. But go right ahead and test them to your own satisfaction. And get used to them."

"Sir?"

"There's a very good chance that pair will be aboard the Enterprise when we leave the space dock, Spock. The ISS Enterprise will be the finest battle cruiser in the Imperial fleet. I plan on her having the finest crew. One other thing to think about?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Until this moment, you had no idea that I personally recruited those two men. The same probably cannot be said about the officer that sicced you on them. Now, their motives might be strictly against Kirk and McCoy - they are both brilliant and there are quite a few that view brilliance in others to be something that diminishes them. But they could also be targeting you. It isn't exactly a secret that I'm considering you for my First Officer. They may have put you onto the track of those two in hopes of it making me angry at you and changing my mind."

While he debated the wisdom of asking the question, Spock needed to hear the answer.

"Has it made you change your mind?"

Pike gave a good natured chuckle and laid a hand on Spock's shoulder.

"Not in the least. I try not to let others make up my mind for me. You're still getting used to the human side of the equation, Spock, so I'll give you a piece of advice. Take anything you're given by anyone else as a suggestion with a grain of salt. Take into consideration what motivations might be behind their 'help'."

"Including the advice you have just given me?"

That got a louder laugh from Pike.

"Especially any advice you get from me. I openly tell you that everything I do is for a reason, whether you are privy to that reason or not. No action exists in a vacuum, Spock. Cause and effect."

"So I should consider input that I receive from others on a scientific level. See what effect the action that they desire may have."

"Exactly. Well, let me allow you to get back to that pair. Leave them alone too long and Kirk might rewire the building or something."

As Pike casually left, Spock remained standing still for a moment as he considered everything he had already been told and added in what Pike had informed him of. As he had told Pike, he had not actually accessed either cadet's records, but surely their instructors had and would have been fully aware of the mental capabilities of each man. That did strong imply that they had a deeper reason for sending Spock after them than the possibility of cheating.

After further thought, he also conceded that McCoy had a point that the other cadets would view the move as a punishment. That could even be viewed, using the shark terminology that he often heard on campus, as 'blood in the water'. Yes, things were indeed far more complicated than Spock had originally considered them to be.

Hands clasped behind his back, Spock turned and headed for the building where Kirk and McCoy were waiting. With all the new ideas he needed to test and either validate or reject, Spock decided that it should prove to be a most fascinating afternoon.


	11. Part XI - Evaluation

**Part XI - Evaluation**

Spending the entire afternoon with Kirk and McCoy did end up as fascinating for Spock. Also immensely frustrating, but eventually illuminating.

As Pike had promised, both men were brilliant though they expressed it in different ways. Kirk's mind was like quicksilver, grasping knowledge at an almost instinctive level and then making intuitive, yet accurate, leaps with it at speeds that were impressive even by Vulcan standards. McCoy took in knowledge far more methodically, but at a speed only slightly less than Kirk.

One point of intrigue was how each man reacted to being doubted. McCoy was emotive, argumentative and a bit vulgar, but Kirk was the ice to McCoy's heat. Had anyone simply described the two men to him, Spock would have made the assumption that they would not have been able to cooperate well. While Spock acknowledged that would have been an entirely wrong thought, he still wasn't able to comprehend how that pair was not only able to cooperate, but go beyond that to complimenting one another's strength's.

After a short session of quizzing the two of them jointly, Spock took Kirk into another room. Not only did Kirk answer any question on the subject matter that Spock came up with, but he expounded further than the scope of the questions and even showed understanding of material that hadn't been covered in the classes yet. After a few questions, Spock was satisfied.

"Very well, Cadet Kirk. You have shown not only personal knowledge of the material, but knowledge at a deeper level than required. Remain here. I will return after speaking with Cadet McCoy."

"Take your time. He knows it as well as I do, though I think he believes over half of it is a waste of time for a doctor to learn."

"Indeed? We shall see about that."

To Spock, McCoy was the real enigma between the two. One of the classes Kirk and McCoy shared was in protocol for first contact, so Spock decided to start there.

"Are you prepared to begin?"

He wasn't sure he cared for the casual way McCoy seemed to be treating the situation.

"Ready."

"Cadet McCoy, what is the proper way to classify a newly found race?"

"There isn't one."

Spock gave McCoy a speculative look with what might have been a trace of a disapproving frown.

"This is hardly the way to show me that you know your lessons without Cadet Kirk being present."

"If you meant to ask me how the book says to do it, we follow the Prime Directive and make an examination of a representative sample of the population before classifying them according to their usefulness to the Empire. You didn't ask that. You asked what the proper way is and, since that doesn't exist, my answer was perfectly valid."

"Indeed? What then would you consider to be a valid method?"

"A longer evaluation period for one. Who knows how many medical breakthroughs have been missed because no one questioned a medicinal plant used? How many power sources as good or perhaps better than dilithium crystals have been missed because of hasty decisions? The current evaluation method looks only at immediate returns, not at future ones. To me, that would be like burning down a field of corn today because the ears won't be ready until next week. Waste, Lieutenant Commander Spock. I can't abide waste."

On one hand, Spock could see the point McCoy was making, but on the other hand, he was only a cadet and he was questioning Imperial policies.

"And what of the waste of time should a planet prove not to be a field of corn, but rather a desert?"

By the sly smile starting to form on McCoy's face, Spock knew that he had somehow given McCoy ammunition.

"Why, Lieutenant Commander Spock - I hear tell that Vulcan might be considered a bit of a desert. Surely you don't consider the many assets of that planet to have not been worth the Empire's time?"

Spock was unsure which bothered him more - that McCoy had made another valid point or that he knew something of Vulcan. By and large, his father's people did their best to keep details of their home planet out of general public knowledge. It left him in a quandary - did he question McCoy to find out where he obtained that knowledge and thus validate that it was accurate or overlook it. Overlooking it had the disadvantage of not allowing him to probe to see what else McCoy might know.

It was really no contest in the end. However much he might wish it to be otherwise, Spock's curiosity wasn't going to let the questions in his mind lie. There was the temptation to make use of his mental abilities and simply pry the information from McCoy's mind, but he hesitated to take that step knowing there was a connection between Pike and McCoy. Spock wanted to be a member of the Enterprise crew as badly as he had ever wanted anything. To have a position on what was to be the jewel of the Imperial fleet was a special kind of validation. Others might not view the desire to rub success into the noses of their doubters, but Spock acknowledged that he was not perfect. At least to himself.

That left the only the direct approach. Or perhaps Spock could try a method he had once seem Captain Pike make use of. Fortunately, Spock had been able to run through all of his options in a matter of seconds, so there was no long pause before he responded to McCoy.

"I am not sure where you have come by your information, but I would not advise that you consider it valid."

His statement didn't seem to bother McCoy in the least.

"Really now? You know, I bet that Vulcan lady would be a bit put out if she knew you were here calling her a liar."

Mentally, Spock froze at that statement. There was very little direct contact between Vulcan and Earth and, so far as he was aware, only one Vulcan female had ever visited Earth in recent years. Relations between the Emperor and Vulcan had been strained when she turned down the Emperor's invitation to become one of his ministers.

Voice tight, Spock spoke so softly that McCoy could barely make out the words.

"Tell me her name."

McCoy paused, then gestured at the communicator on Spock's belt. Spock immediately realized that McCoy was asking for a scrambling field that would interrupt any attempts at mechanical eavesdropping. He adjusted the unit quickly, then gave McCoy an impatient stare. McCoy nodded and answered.

"Her name was T'Pau. Nice lady. Meeting her caused me no end of grief when I got older, but hell, neither of us knew that would happen, so I don't have any hard feelings."

"How long ago was this?"

"Oh, years back. I was just a kid. My father used to drag me along as a really cheap assistant and he'd been called in because Terran food wasn't agreeing with her. He was one of the top gastrointestinal specialists and the only one among those with any actual experience dealing with a non-Terran race."

There was a thoughtful look on McCoy's face as he drew up his memories.

"I could tell she really didn't like being there. Outside of what she had to say to communicate her symptoms, she wouldn't talk to any of the adults, but I ended up being left alone with her while my father was running tests and consulting with other doctors. When it was just the two of us, she'd speak. She was lonely, I expect - and I was only around five or six years old. Guess that made me safe for her to talk to. She'd talk about Vulcan - the sands and the heat. Kept mentioning how chilly it was here. And how much she missed watching the sunsets back home."

"Did she mention missing watching the moon rise?"

That slight smile formed on McCoy's face again.

"You know as well as I do that Vulcan doesn't have a moon. Come on, Lieutenant Commander - why would she have bothered to lie to a kid about something like that? If you need further proof, I could tell you approximately where your major internal organs are and the basic components of your blood."

Everything in McCoy's story fit with the facts of T'Pau's visit to Earth that he knew of. When he considered the amount information that McCoy had retained from that visit even at his young age, Spock again recalled what Pike had said about their aptitude levels.

"That will not be necessary."

Leaning back a bit in his chair, McCoy's drawl became a shade more pronounced.

"Not that most of what we just covered was actual classroom material, but have I proved that I've got enough brains to pass my tests on my own merits?"

"You have. Tell me something, Cadet. I have not heard of what you know of Vulcans to be common knowledge."

"That would be because it isn't common knowledge. You didn't know my father, but one thing he taught me? Too many folks know what you know and suddenly, you aren't necessary any more."

"You speak of him in the past tense?"

"He's dead, if that's what you're asking."

It took Spock a moment to search his memory for the proper human expression.

"I am sorry for your loss."

"Why? I wasn't."

Having had difficulties with his own father, Spock felt as if he could sympathize with that remark. Which bothered him. He had not been looking to make any sort of connection with either cadet, but had found himself at least partially understanding both of them. He wondered if Pike had expected that and, if that were the case, if that had been the reason for his signs of amusement.

That would be something he would think on during his meditations that evening. After all, Captain Pike did inform him that everything he did was for a reason. And he had allowed this testing to take place even though he was already quite aware that both men would pass it. With that in mind, he addressed McCoy again.

"As both you and Cadet Kirk have demonstrated your grasp of your studies, I see no need for the insistence that the two of you be separated during classes. You will find Cadet Kirk in the third room down the hall. You are both dismissed and will be expected to attend your next class at 1400 hours."

Spock continued to stand by the door, watching as McCoy exited and collected Kirk from the other room before the pair left side by side, already joking with one another before reaching the end of the hall.

Deciding that it might be an advantageous time to view the record jackets on Kirk and McCoy, Spock left the building himself and headed for Records Administration. Unless Pike were to change his mind - which Spock viewed as highly unlikely - Spock was going to be dealing with Kirk and McCoy a great deal more in the future.


	12. Part XII - Adjustments

**Part XII - Adjustments**

After the incident with Lieutenant Commander Spock, time seemed to pass rapidly as everyone prepared for the battery of tests that were going to be given the week before the Academy was scheduled to shut down for a two week Winter Break. With every class doing the tests that would not only set their class ranking for their study track but would also determine whether or not the cadets could go to the next level, be forced to repeat or be relegated to the jobs in Starfleet with high mortality rates? Even Kirk had his head bent over his PADD.

During this period, Kirk discovered a new reason to appreciate a roommate with a talent for both medicine and chemistry. While McCoy didn't approve of chemical stimulants on a regular basis, he had experimented and developed a blend of naturally occurring stimulants, sugars and nutrients that was a close second in effectiveness with the added benefits of not showing up on drugs tests or making them too hyped/hung-over to get some sleep at night once it wore off.

The test results were posted the last day of classes and Kirk mused that if Spock hadn't already settled the cheating question, it would likely have come up then. In their shared classes, both were always in the top two, alternating between first and second. There were more than a few glares sent toward the pair as they stood, as usual by this point, side by side and looked over the scores. Kirk wasn't really paying much attention to the actual scores. He was impatient and chomping at the bit to get away from the campus during the break. He was also annoyed that he couldn't get his wingman to go with him. He tried one more time as they stood by the boards.

"Come on, Bones. You need this break as much, if not more, than I do. We won't go anywhere expensive, hell, there are places I know by beaches where all we'd have to worry about is food."

Turning away from the boards and basically ignoring everyone else around them, McCoy shook his head.

"I don't think you get it, Jim. It's not that I don't want to go with you. Hell, I'd love to get away for even a couple of days, but so long as they have me working at the hospital, that's not going to happen. I may be a full-fledged doctor, but being a cadet as well means that I'm low man on the totem pole. I'll be lucky to get off two whole days of the break and those two days aren't likely to be together. But if you see a bottle of the good stuff on your travels, feel free to bring one back. I'll need it by the end of this nonsense."

Kirk laughed at that as he headed off to change into his civvies and grab his bag. The weather was unseasonably warm, so once off the campus, he devoted his first week to a near equal division of beach and bedroom - occasionally combining the two even with the disturbing habit sand had of invading sensitive spots. The weather shifted near the start of the second week and after a brief debate, Kirk picked up a decent bottle of bourbon along with a bottle of Scotch before heading back to the Academy. He and McCoy could get a decent drunk on during one of his days off.

Whistling as he accessed the room, Kirk went silent almost immediately after entering. His immediate impression was that something was very wrong and he'd learned the hard way to never question his gut reaction to an area.

Easing his bag down, Kirk began a slow and careful examination of room. The more he looked, the more things were pinging on his feeling of wrongness. While not an absolute neat freak, McCoy did have very predictable patterns to his personal clutter. There were leftovers present that McCoy would have pitched into the recycler by this point, clothing that would have been sent through the refresher and study items that didn't appear to have been touched for several days. In fact, the room had a deserted feel to it. Standing in the center of the room after his examination, Kirk reached for the room's comm-unit.

"Cadet Kirk. I would like to speak to Captain Pike."

He waited patiently and was finally rewarded with the sound of Pike's voice. Kirk didn't waste time getting to the point.

"Captain Pike, do you know where Doctor McCoy is?"

"I do. I've been expected your call since I was informed you'd arrived back on campus. Leonard is at the hospital."

Scowling, Kirk growled back. Part of it was knowing that Pike was keeping tabs on where he was, but most of it was directed at the Medical department.

"What's the deal? They aren't even letting him come back to his own bed to sleep?"

There was a pause that immediately gave Kirk a bad feeling. When he took into account that Pike didn't tend to mince words, that feeling multiplied.

"James, Leonard isn't at hospital in his capacity as a doctor. He's been admitted as a patient. Meet me there in ten minutes and I'll tell you what I know."

Kirk was there in five minutes. He was already in McCoy's room by the time Pike arrived. He could barely recognize his roommate's bruised and battered body. A deep burning need to hurt someone that he hadn't felt since leaving Tarsus took Kirk off-guard. Now wasn't the time to wonder about that though.

Grabbing the PADD from the end of the biobed, Kirk started typing on the screen. Hacking past the password that was supposed to lock out everyone but authorized personnel took him less than a minute. His expression darkened as he began to read. Five days ago. If even a semi-competent doctor - hell, if a semi-competent nurse - had been taking care of McCoy for that period of time, he shouldn't still look this bad.

A soft cough from the doorway drew his attention and Pike was standing there, a slight look of amusement on his face as he looked to the PADD in Kirk's hand.

"Couldn't wait for his doctor to come, James?"

"Why? Whoever it is can't be much of a doctor if Bones is still in this condition after five damn days."

The use of the nickname was noted, but not commented on as Pike continued to speak in a casual tone.

"I don't know for certain, of course, but I get the feeling there's a divide among the doctors as to whether Leonard survives or not is in their best interests. No telling which of them might have been behind his scheduling. After all, Leonard doesn't only have his own rivals to contend with anymore. He has all of yours as well."

Eyes resting back on his roommate's still form, Kirk felt that burning sensation growing more intense. Things weren't adding up in his head.

"I don't get it. Bones has a healthy sense of paranoia. He takes precautions."

"He did take precautions. As the saying goes, you should see the other guys. Leonard killed one of his attackers and left another in critical condition before he went down. Unfortunately, there were more than just two attackers involved. Exactly how many is still being investigated."

The fists Kirk made were so tight that his knuckles were white, but his voice was icy calm when he spoke.

"What happened?"

"The hospital scheduled him for two full shifts only four hours apart. They said it was a scheduling error, but that no-one else was available to come in on short notice, so Leonard ended up working both. As best as we know, he was leaving after the end of the second shift to get something to eat when the attack happened."

"As best you know?"

"There aren't any functional surveillance devices in the area where the attack occurred and Leonard hasn't been able to answer any questions yet."

Pike stopped speaking and finally Kirk looked up at the officer. The glimmer of hatred aimed at him was not something Pike expected to see. He knew that it wasn't his imagination when the hatred also laced Kirk's next words.

"Why are you content to just let him rot here? You recruited him - you recruited me. You're like the others - all talk, aren't you? You didn't want us specifically. You could care less about my brain or his skills. You just wanted enough bodies to meet some damn quota."

Pike held up a hand to cut off Kirk's rant just before Kirk told him, in no uncertain terms, just where he could stick his quota. Pike suddenly saw just how thin the ice was that he was walking on with Kirk. Handling Kirk wrong now would quite probably mean losing any chance of maintaining control over him. Probably forever.

"No. You're wrong there, James. I want both of you in Starfleet - I want what both of you can offer and I prefer the two of you together now that I've seen you that way. The two of you make a formidable team."

"Then why are you allowing them to treat Bones like a charity case off the streets? We both joined - we're both near the top of our classes. What the hell else do you want, old man?"

The expression on Pike's face hardened. He really didn't want to be having this talk with Kirk yet. He hadn't planned on having it until Kirk was in his third year and firmly on the path to graduation. Damn those idiots. They attacked McCoy at possibly the worst possible time for Pike's plans. There was no use continuing to curse them however. He would have to play with the cards as they were dealt now.

"Do you think my recruiting the two of you was coincidence?"

The blue eyes immediately went cold and guarded.

"Not really."

"You've been a bit of a hobby of mine for some time, James. Your roommate became a hobby of Doctor Puri's after Leonard attracted his attention during a lecture tour. As you are aware, Puri is both my personal doctor as well as the man slated to be my CMO on the Enterprise. I try to keep him happy, so when he requested that I get him a toy, how could I refuse?"

Kirk moved slightly closer to McCoy and Pike felt a smile forming. Protective - or at least possessive. Good.

"So what? We're just something for you guys to mess around with when you're bored?"

"That might be part of it, but hardly all of it."

"I'm listening, old man."

Pike let out a chuckle.

"You're fortunate that I don't mind a bit of sass from my command crew."

That comment drew Kirk's eyes up from McCoy. When he remained silent, Pike continued.

"As you have likely heard, I'll be captaining the Enterprise when she leaves Earth and I intend to have a crew that will write her name in the history books. I plan for you and Leonard to be a part of that crew, James."

A smirk formed on Pike's face at Kirk's disbelieving expression.

"Still just words, right? I'll make the initial show of good faith. Doctor Puri is already slated to be my CMO. He's one of the ones that recognizes Leonard's brilliance and, unlike most others, he isn't squeamish about having someone that talented underneath him. If you want, I'll tell Puri to assign himself to Leonard's case now."

This was it. The situation Kirk had warned himself about time and time again. His eyes went back to and lingered on McCoy. Their partnership was working. Working damn well. But was he using McCoy as a crutch? Had his alliance with his roommate become a weakness he couldn't afford?

Pike seemed to be reading his thoughts. Or perhaps he'd been similar to Kirk during his own days at the Academy.

"You want to be a Captain of your own ship one day, don't you? Well, you can't run her by yourself, no matter how good you are. You'll need a core group - even if it's only one or two men that you can depend on to keep their word - at least where you are concerned. In Leonard, you have one man that you've already proven to yourself. Why restart from scratch when you don't have to? He'll be learning underneath Puri and by the time you're ready for Captain, he'll be ready for CMO."

"And what will Doctor Puri's assistance cost me? Or him?"

That got a laugh from Pike.

"This time? Nothing. This is that show of good faith I mentioned. Believe me when I say that the price of any future favor will be far steeper."

The blue eyes remained on Pike for a moment longer, then flickered back down to McCoy.

"Then do it. Please, sir."

A look of satisfaction formed on Pike's face that gave Kirk a bit of a queasy feeling. He felt like he'd just put something into motion that he wasn't sure could be stopped again. As he took a seat by McCoy's bedside, he watched Pike pull out a personal communicator.

"Since we've reached an accord, I suppose the next thing to do is to get Doctor McCoy healed up so that the two of you get back to the business at hand. Raj? Come in. I have a patient for you."

Kirk frowned slightly at how fast Doctor Puri appeared. Was Pike that sure Kirk would ask him to help McCoy? He gave his head a rueful shake. Yeah, obviously he had been sure.

"I know the two of you have seen each other before, but I don't recall you being introduced. Cadet James Kirk, meet Doctor Rajinder Puri. I'm sure you'll get to know him well during your time on the Enterprise."

He couldn't hold in the question any longer even though he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"What makes you so sure Bones and I will be assigned to the Enterprise?"

A chuckle came out as Pike went to one of the room's chairs and made himself comfortable.

"I rarely fail in getting what I want, James. Keep that in mind."

After that, a silence fell as Puri concentrated his efforts on McCoy.

"You should have called me in on this sooner, Chris. You told me he'd been beaten, but I didn't think it was to this degree."

That got Kirk's immediate attention.

"What do you mean? He'll be alright, won't he?"

Pike looked bemused as Puri shifted his gaze to the young cadet and seemed to debate briefly whether or not to address Kirk's question before he finally spoke.

"He'll be fine. He'll end up with a few permanent scars, but I can fix what's broken. I can probably have him more or less back on his feet in a few hours."

Pulling out a hypospray, Puri applied it to McCoy. Kirk hadn't noticed how tense McCoy's body had been until it relaxed. Puri saw the unspoken question on Kirk's face and answered that as well.

"Yes, he was in a considerable amount of pain, but what I just gave him should allow him to rest while I take care of the worst of his injuries. I'm going to need the two of you to head out now so I can get started. Chris? Send in Nurse Scyber."

"Will do, Raj. Come along, James. Let the man work."

Pike paused only long enough to send the nurse in to Puri, then he continued on his way, herding Kirk outside. Kirk only half-noticed - his mind was still preoccupied with trying to figure out when it was that he had started genuinely giving a shit whether McCoy died or not. Another dry chuckle from Pike pulled him back to the present.

"Your world hasn't ended, James. It hasn't even changed for the worse. Doctor Puri had planned to wait until after Leonard finished his first year to formally become his patron, but considering the current problems, he'll be moving that up."

"No."

The one word was said firmly, but so quietly that for a moment, Pike wasn't sure that he had heard Kirk correctly.

"No?"

The blue eyes practically had lightning flashing in them.

"If Doctor Puri steps in now, it makes Bones look valuable, but weak. You might as well paint a target on him."

That smile of Pike formed again.

"And how would you want to see it handled?"

Kirk's voice was low and intense.

"Once Bones is back on his feet, give the two of us a little time to track down and take care of the ones that attacked him. Let people think Puri is claiming a spot as his mentor because he recognizes McCoy is a dangerous bastard that he wants for his team or at least wants to keep where he can keep an eye on him."

There was a moment or two of silence before Pike began to laugh, clapped Kirk on his shoulder.

"You see, thinking like that is why I want you on my command team, James. Is there going to be anything left of the attackers to be dealt with afterward?"

"No, sir."

"Good. I dislike loose ends. My only stipulation is that you make sure you only target the ones behind the attack."

Kirk chose his next words very carefully.

"Of course, Captain Pike. Going after anyone else would dilute the effect that we're after."

Still chuckling, Pike cast a glance over his shoulder back toward the hospital.

"If we go back before giving Raj at least a solid hour of uninterrupted work, we'll both need some dermatology work done on our asses. Come along, James. We'll have a longer talk about your future prospects over a drink. Your quarters. I can make that look like a surprise inspection."

Kirk just nodded and remained quiet as the two of them began the walk to the dormitories. He and Bones were going to be on the biggest, baddest, newest Imperial Starship - that was higher than Kirk had dared to hope for. Then he thought back to that conversation he and Bones had back when they were first working things out. Sure, Pike may be in control now, but really? Pike was in for way more than he bargained for.


	13. Part XIII - Mentor

**Part XIII - Mentor**

Pike stopped walking as they reached the other side of the campus.

"Wait here for a moment, James. I won't be long."

Hand clasped behind him, Pike strolled briskly into a nearby building that Kirk recognized as being one where most of the instructors had their offices. It really wasn't more than three or four minutes before Pike came back out again carrying an oddly shaped package. Neither commented on it as they continued on their way. Cadets were scattering ahead of them as they entered the building, to Pike's great amusement. He added to the general chaos when he spoke loud enough to be easily overheard.

"I think while I'm here, I might hold a few other surprise inspections in addition to the one of your quarters, Cadet Kirk."

In a matter of seconds, not another cadet was in sight. Kirk was having a hard time keeping a straight face as he opened the door to his room and Pike walked past him as if he owned the place. Once the door was shut behind them, Pike made his way to the table and sat down the package.

"Before we begin, you should know that I'm removing Leonard from the hospital rotation while he's still a cadet. Before you voice any objections, this is to punish the Medical staff - they were told upfront by me that I would allow them to make use of Leonard's medical degrees only if it didn't interfere with the real reason he's here. They broke their end of the deal which means that now, they will only be able to access Leonard's talents through a direct request to me - which I will deny each and every time unless it is a real emergency in Leonard's line of expertise. And trust me when I say that Doctor Puri will be tearing into the supervisors for using a fully qualified surgeon to perform tasks that someone with little to no medical training could have handled."

Kirk just shrugged. The fact that the Medical staff had it in for McCoy wasn't exactly news to him.

"Bones told me that from the start that they'd be out to make him fail. It seems to be well enough known that the Academy Medical team eats anyone with talent unless they have plenty of money or plenty of connections."

As he began to open the package, Pike gave a short nod.

"Doctor Puri's been arguing that point with the Admiralty for a few years now. Sure, we want and need the best out in the Fleet, but that shouldn't mean that the Academy gets the worst of the worst. Hell, ship them out to the penal colonies. Raj wants to see the staff here be the ones that are decent and still have a shot at improving or those who are good enough to be in the black, but whose ships aren't ready yet. Leonard's already better than some of the docs out there. He just lacks experience with how things are done on a starship. He'll pick that up fast if his test scores in classes he's never touched before are any indicator."

Pike paused. Taking out his personal communicator again, Pike made an adjustment to it before setting it down and returning to the package, lifting out an ornate bottle filled with a sapphire colored liquid.

"There. While I don't imagine that there are too many individuals foolhardy enough to attempt eavesdropping on me, I have in the past been reminded that some people have an endless capacity for stupidity and learned to take precautions. I've just jammed any attempts at listening in by other methods."

Lifting up the bottle, Pike gave Kirk a speculative glance.

"Ever heard of Romulan Ale, James?"

"Heard of, but never - wait. Is that what that is? That stuff is rumored to cost a fortune."

"Only because only a select few can buy it legally. One advantage of being in Starfleet, James."

Opening the bottle, Pike reached back into the package and pulled out two small glasses. He poured one three-quarters full, one half-full and offered the half-full one to Kirk. Kirk eyed the blue liquid, then looked back up to Pike.

"This as potent as I've heard it is?"

"It is."

Pike took a small sip from his own glass then moved to take a seat.

"The Empire has problems, James. What is happening at Medical is just a sample of what is currently happening throughout the Empire. The Admiralty is filled with pompous yes-men past their prime who seem to take their only pleasures from trying to make sure that the current crop of Captains never get the chance to outshine their own deeds. The Enterprise is being built in spite of them because the Emperor still has dreams of expansion."

Pike swirled the liquid in his glass before taking another sip.

"One day, James - maybe sooner than you think - there will be an implosion. Or possibly a collapse. When that happens, the only power of any worth is going to be in the hands of the Captains of the Fleet. With the Enterprise at my command, I'll be a force to be reckoned with. There is no ship in the black that will be able to outrun, outmaneuver or outgun her."

As Pike was speaking, Kirk discretely took out the small device McCoy had finally been able to make for him and scanned the glass. The scan showed clear so Kirk took as small a sip of the drink as he could manage, but still sputtered slightly at the burn of the potent drink. When he was finally able to speak again, he watched Pike carefully.

"You know what you said could be taken as treason."

A snort followed by laughter came from Pike.

"Of course I know. Why the hell else do you think I was taking precautions, James? Speaking of which, what was that you ran over your drink?"

Caught, Kirk saw no reason for denying any thing.

"An invention that Bones came up with. It detects if a drink has been tampered with."

"Really? May I see it?"

Knowing that a request from Pike might as well be an order, Kirk handed it over. Pike looked around the room until he spotted another glass and poured a small amount of the ale into it before pulling out something else and dropping it into the glass before swirling the liquid around. The ale looked the same as before, but when Pike used the scanner on it, he laughed.

"Clever, clever boy. No wonder Raj has kept his eye on that one. I wonder if making this was a lucky quirk?"

"It wasn't. I saw him using his and asked him to make one for me."

Pike disposed of the altered drink, then gave the device back to Kirk.

"I'd like to get a pair of those myself."

A faint smile formed as Kirk thought that over before speaking.

"I'm sure Bones would be willing for the right price."

Bemused by the amount of pure gall Kirk had, Pike chuckled.

"The right price, eh?"

Giving a shrug, Kirk ventured to take another small sip.

"You know his financial situation as well as I do, sir. Other than the clothes I bought him with that credit chip you left us, he still doesn't have anything but what he was wearing when he got here and the uniforms he was issued."

Pike's expression cleared as if he suddenly recalled something he had forgotten.

"Ah yes, that's right. His ex has everything."

The way Pike phrased that drew Kirk's notice.

"Has? Wait - that harpy is still alive?"

"She is both alive and living quite well on everything she took from him."

Kirk found himself feeling disappointed and blurted out.

"As many different poisons as he knows?"

Chuckling, Pike shook his head.

"Take that as proof that Leonard has the good sense to bide his time. His ex is from the family that has all of the political clout there. I looked into it - all the law enforcement, including judges, are related to her. As is everyone in an elected position. I don't think you'll have to strain your imagination too much to realize that all the appointed positions have gone to her relatives as well. That's why Leonard's father arranged the marriage - to move his family into a higher social bracket."

"And Bones agreed to that?"

"His father made it a condition for getting Leonard into the fast-track for Medical school. Plus, he was young and she was - and is - stunningly beautiful. She's also ruthless, but not particularly wise. From what I've been able to piece together, she decided that being a surgeon's wife wasn't glamorous enough and wanted to move on. But she wanted to take everything with her and with relatives all willing to go along with her claims against him for a piece of the pie?"

Pike took another sip before continuing.

"Oh, she's made a lifetime enemy out of Leonard, have no doubts about that. Now that he's out of the reach of her family, I doubt she's sleeping very well. Three of her lovers died in extremely nasty ways before Leonard was tossed into jail. Nasty, but untraceable. Raj has no doubts that was Leonard's talented hands behind those."

Pike focused his attention back on Kirk.

"I don't understand the dynamics between you and Leonard, but I don't need to know the particulars. It's the results that matter. As you've seen, it's a mixed blessing to be considered a power to be reckoned with on the Academy campus. Some are like me, of the opinion that you don't waste good. Others will just wipe out anything that they consider makes them look bad. You'll find that if you study the real history of the Empire, that latter group make meteoric rises - and have equally meteoric falls because they don't have the skills or the support to maintain their height when they hit it."

"Those are the ones that are held up as exemplars for us."

Another snort erupted from Pike at that observation.

"Of course they are. You really think the old men hanging onto the threads of the Empire want a lot of young bucks making their own supports? Building their own power bases? Too dangerous so far as they're concerned. That's what wrong with the Empire, James. Stagnation. The Emperor has allowed the ministers to assume too much power and they've shifted their goals from going out and getting more to guarding and preserving what they already have. The shift began when the Emperor lost the one of his core group that had been a shaker and who also happened to have been the only one of the sitting ministers that had that balls to tell the Emperor when he was being an idiot."

The look Kirk gave Pike bordered on incredulous.

"He would tell the Emperor to his face that he was an idiot? And the Emperor didn't kill him himself?"

"James, never underestimate the value of someone who's not afraid to call you out on a possible bad decision. No-one is infallible. After Michaels died, all the Emperor had left were yes-men. All that yes-men are good for is to swell egos. A trained parrot could do the same job and cost a lot less."

Kirk couldn't help a snicker at the image of the Emperor walking around with a parrot on each shoulder.

"Alright, I admit I can see the advantage to having a few around me that won't just say what they think I want to hear. I can't imagine Bones ever saying anything just because someone wants to hear it. He's a contrary bastard."

"My advice is to keep him that way and to ignore any suggestions from others to put a leash on him. I'm sure he'll give you a bad moment or two, but you're a big boy. You can take it."

"Does Doctor Puri do that for you?"

"Raj keeps me healthy and makes sure my feet are firmly planted in reality even when I occasionally wish he'd just shut up the hell up and let me enjoy the moment. He's right though. The bootlickers can distract you far more than you think they would be able to because we're all vain creatures deep inside that like being told we can do no wrong."

What little Romulan Ale Kirk had already ingested had already given him a buzz, so he held the drink and studied it instead of taking another sip. He wanted his wits about him while he was alone in a room with Pike.

"If you don't mine my asking, sir - what is this about?"

"This is about the future, James. Power bases. I'm doing my best to keep the Empire and the Academy intact right now because of one thing - the Enterprise. I want her finished and in the black before anything happens. Now that you've proven to me that all your brains didn't turn into corn pudding, I'm ready to make you an offer. You have the intellect, the instincts and the raw talent to be a Captain of your own ship, but you need to learn how to direct that manic energy of yours. I'm willing to mentor you - hone you to a razor's edge."

The wariness that went all the way to the marrow of Kirk's bones came to the forefront again.

"Why? What's in this for you?"

Pike gave Kirk an approving smile.

"Very good, lad. No-one ever does anything for nothing. Remember why I said the ones that wipe out talent to elevate themselves fall?"

With a slow nod as he began to see where this might be headed, Kirk answered.

"They have nothing to support themselves with - not real skills or allies."

"Precisely. You could be as good - possibly better - than I am. I have my sights set beyond the Enterprise, but for my end goals to come to fruition, I'll need someone I know intimately and can trust to be ready to take her helm. Are you following this?"

Kirk's eyes flashed back down to the communicator unit to make sure the jamming was still active.

"I believe so, sir. You plan to be in the Captain's chair of the Enterprise when the Empire caves in on itself, then you're planning on stepping into the power void that the Emperor will be leaving behind - with me on the Enterprise being the muscle to back your position."

"Bravo. You summed that up nicely, James."

"And where you go, Doctor Puri goes?"

"Raj has already confirmed to me that he will be quite content to be the private physician to the Emperor - which will leave the position of CMO open for Leonard."

There were quite a number of far less savory things that Kirk would have been willing to do to put himself within reach of the command chair of the Enterprise. He would have to add Pike's enemies to the list of his own, but that was a small price to pay so far as he was concerned.

"I can't speak for McCoy, but consider me onboard, sir."

Pike chuckled again.

"I think you can speak for McCoy. He's already accepted you as his leader whether you've recognized that or not."

The half-smirk reappeared on Kirk's face as he reviewed that statement. It was true - Bones groused and grumbled, but in the end, he would do what he was asked to do. Kirk lifted up the ale and took another sip before speaking.

"In that case, consider us both onboard, sir."


	14. Part XIV - Doctors

**Part XIV - Doctors**

Kirk sat unusually quiet, studying the sapphire liquid still in his glass. Out of the small amount he'd been given, he still hadn't drank a quarter of it. Pike let the silence hold for a minute or two before speaking up.

"This whole mentoring thing will work much better if you ask your questions when you have them instead of holding them in, James."

That brought Kirk's eyes up, but his expression was still thoughtful.

"Sorry, sir. It wasn't so much a question I was thinking about as taking all the changes in. I've never really been in a situation like this before."

"You've been pretty much on your own devices since you were born, James. It's a considerable adjustment, but whether you believe it now or not, it gives you an advantage over the majority of your competition."

When Kirk looked up with the puzzled frown on his face, it was the first time Pike could see how very young he actually was from his appearance. The feelings that stirred in Pike were not exactly paternal, but when he spared a second to remember that Raj collected plague samples the way McCoy collected poisons? He decided that considering his feelings to be paternal was, by far, the safest option.

"How exactly is it an advantage? I have to admit, I don't see it."

"Of course you don't. But imagine for a moment that your mother had been halfway competent at making use of the political clout your father's dramatic demise gave her. She could have set up an entire network of connections with the understanding that you would toady to their wishes as you came to age. You likely would have had an easier life up until now, granted - but you wouldn't be your own man. Oh you could possibly have maneuvered yourself out of the deals your mother had made, but that would have branded you as untrustworthy and unlikely to attract any allies of worth. Plus everyone would be equating your worth solely to your connection to your father."

Pike paused for a moment and took another sip of ale.

"Instead of being in that position, you've grown up canny. Not only aren't you trying to rest on your father's laurels, you're trying to tear them apart. From the fights you've been in, you also have a better sense of your own strengths and weaknesses than most your own age. Plus, you've got a follower in an entirely separate track from yourself that would likely not have had anything to do with you if you'd come here as a privileged little snot."

The thought of him being more like Uhura and having Bones plopping down next to him half-drunk caused him to chuckle.

"No. I can't imagine our first meeting would have gone well."

"Take it from a man who has some experience in the matter. Having a skilled doctor backing you is never a bad thing."

"So, as a man with some experience in the matter, how have you kept Doctor Puri with you over the years?"

"A fair question, James."

Pike took along sip before continuing.

"First, bind him to you in as many ways as you can. Second, whatever his medical curiosity is - don't just indulge it. Encourage it. Leonard has already shown he can not only envision, but invent. Get him whatever he wants - tools, parts, cadavers - then reap the rewards when he comes up with something like that analyzer of yours. Third, every doctor I've ever come across of any worth has their limit. Some won't kill in cold blood. Some won't torture. Some won't touch kids or women, regardless of species. You could order your doctor to go past their line, but I don't advise it. You'll draw any number of other people to you that can do that kind of work for you. Once you have a man's loyalty, constant retesting only shows weakness on your part."

Taking another small sip of the ale, Kirk wondered if he was getting used to the burn or if it had already killed all of the pain receptors in his mouth and throat. Whichever way it was, he reluctantly sat the glass down. If he was going to get back to the hospital, he needed to be able to find it.

"Unless there's something else you'd like to discuss right now, I'd like to get back to the hospital. I don't like the idea of Bones being alone if Doctor Puri gets called away."

"Just one question, James. Bones? Where did that come from?"

A chuckle escaped Kirk at that question.

"It was back when we first met on the shuttle. He was telling me about his ex taking his grandfather's stethoscope and then said if she'd been able to figure out a way to claim them during the settlement, she'd probably have taken his bones and made a wind chime out of them. When I saw him again, that bone wind chime came back to me, so I made it into a nickname for him."

Pike polished off his drink and sat the glass down.

"I've heard worse nicknames. Come along. I'll walk you back to the hospital."

When Kirk noticed that Pike wasn't taking the bottle with him, he cleared his throat.

"Were you wanting me to keep an eye on that until you return for it?"

Glancing back at the bottle as if it were empty instead of nearly full, Pike made a dismissive gesture at it.

"You and Leonard can keep what's left. But I'd advise you to find a suitable hiding place for it. There's a large demand for it on the black market. In fact, I'd advise you to go ahead and stow it out of sight before I turn off the interference."

"Yes, sir."

Kirk picked up the bottle and stuck it into his closet - not the best hiding place, but he figured that getting it out of sight was the main thing for now. After another thought, he picked up Pike's empty glass and what was left of his own and stowed them in the closet as well. As they stepped back outside, Pike scowled at a cadet that was peeking out of their door.

"Wait here for a moment, Cadet Kirk."

For the next five minutes, Kirk fought to keep a straight face as Pike either found or invented a dozen different code violations in the room with the nosy cadet. After calling Security to escort both roommates to the agony booth, Pike gestured to Kirk.

"Come along, cadet. Along with everything else, those two have delayed us."

He waited until they were both out of the building and a decent distance from any other structure before he questioned Pike.

"Do you always make use of the booth for room violations?"

"Almost never. It was more for being caught sneaking. If you do something, James, either do it openly or hide your tracks better. Sneaking shows you already know what you're doing is wrong."

Since they were in public, Kirk tried to keep a straight face. He had a feeling that was a skill he'd need to practice more.

"I'll keep that in mind, sir."

When they entered McCoy's room, Puri glanced over. From his expression, he was about to snap out until he saw who it was, then he visibly relaxed. As he turned back to McCoy, he spoke to Pike.

"Good thing you didn't wait any longer, Chris. Seems that the majority leaned to the side of the fence that they'd be better off if he died or was at least permanently incapacitated from his injuries. They weren't too happy that I was here."

Not waiting for Pike to respond, Kirk moved in and circled the bed. McCoy's coloration was considerably better.

"Can you get him to the point that he can finish recovering away from here?"

When Kirk looked back up from his roommate, he found Puri was giving him a speculative look. He wasn't sure what the doctor did or didn't see in him, but Puri turned and gave a look to Pike.

"At this point, McCoy can finish up his healing about anywhere. Provided he has help. He won't be able to do things for himself for at least two or three days."

There was a long moment of silence before Pike gave a brisk nod.

"I need to make a couple of quick calls. Get him ready to move. Kirk, anything either of you need would from your rooms if you were gone for a few days? Not counting toiletries or clothes?"

It only took Kirk a moment to consider before he shook his head.

"Nothing I need that I don't already have on me and Bones doesn't have much to worry with to start with."

"Good. Then you stay here and help Doctor Puri."

Pike left without another word. Puri quirked a smile at Kirk's expression.

"You'll have several years to get used to that. And you will."

Seeing nothing else that he could do at the moment, Kirk settled into the chair by McCoy's bed.

"How long did it take you to get used to it?"

Holding up a hypospray to get a better look at the settings, Puri's face took on an air of contemplation.

"He and I have been together over seven years now. I suppose it took me the better part of that first year."

The next question could well put him on thin ice, but Kirk opted to try to ask anyway.

"Are the two of you . . uhm?"

Puri's chuckle was deep, rich and highly amused.

"You need to work on your eloquence, Cadet. What word are you looking for? Involved? Lovers?"

Hoping desperately that he was avoiding looking as much like an idiot as he felt at the moment, Kirk nodded.

"Normally, I would say none of your business, but considering you and Leonard will be in close proximity to us for a good while, then yes. You'll encounter that quite a bit once you're in the black. There's only so many people you can trust your back to and only so many people available on a Starship. Speaking of trust, is there anyone you trust well enough to give you a hand with Leonard?"

What Puri said had brought up a set of questions that Kirk hadn't considered, but he drug his thoughts back to the present at the question. It didn't take much thought.

"Yes. I do."

"Give them a call and see if they'll come here then. Once we leave the campus, you probably won't have another opportunity."

Stepping out of the room to make use of his comm, Kirk was pleased to find the person he wanted was both on campus and willing to help out. Doctor Puri really wasn't sure who he was expecting to walk back in with Kirk, but a red-haired Orion girl hadn't even been in the running.

"Gaila, this is Doctor Puri - Doctor Puri, Cadet Gaila."

"Nice to meet -"

What she'd been saying broke off with a gasp as Gaila got her first look at McCoy. Puri was more bemused than annoyed that he seemed to be forgotten as she hurried to the bed. If nothing else, that immediate reaction seemed to show that Kirk had chosen well.

It was that scene that Pike walked back in on. Taking it in, he turned silently to Puri, who was still looking amused as he explained things.

"I suggested to Kirk that it would help if he had someone he could trust to help him with Leonard."

After looking over the green-skinned cadet, Pike gave a shrug. What the hell - why not?

"Fine. Let's get him on his feet. I called in a favor to get us a site-to-site teleport to where we're going."

It only took a few seconds for McCoy's eyes to open once Puri injected him with a stimulant. The first thing to come into focus for him were Kirk's eyes. Kirk smiled and stopped him before any questions even had a chance to get out.

"I know you're disoriented, but save the questions for later. Come on. Let's get you on your feet."

It was at that moment that Kirk really saw what Pike had been talking about. McCoy simply gave a slight nod and started trying to get up. Even though he needed both Kirk and Gaila's help to accomplish it, he was following Kirk's instructions without questioning why he had to get up or what they were going to do.

His focus being on keeping McCoy upright, Kirk heard Pike's voice in the background.

"Pike to the Farragut. Five to transport."

It was dizzying even for Kirk, so he imagined it must be even worse on McCoy. They faded out of Medical, began to solidify on the Farragut and then immediately dissolved again only to resolidify again. His thought of how the trip was for McCoy was proven correct by the fact that he threw up as soon as the process was over.

"Really, Bones - what is it with you and puking?"

The glare wasn't much, but it was the best McCoy could muster in his current condition. Gaila came to McCoy's defense as she looked around for a comfortable place to put him.

"Give him a break, Jim. It made me queasy and I'm perfectly healthy. Help me get him over to the couch before he falls down."

Puri and Pike stayed back, watching the three interact briefly before Pike cleared his throat. Gaila had forgotten they were there and jumped, nearly losing her hold on McCoy in the process.

"Easy there, Cadet."

Pike's attention turned to Kirk then.

"You should have everything here that you'll require for the remainder of the school break. If it turns out there's something else you need, you can contact either myself or Doctor Puri over the comm, but I advise you not to let anyone else on campus know your location. At least not until Leonard is able to take better care of himself. Any questions?"

There weren't any. McCoy wasn't coherent enough to ask, Gaila was too intimidated to ask and Kirk's thoughts were already on what they needed to do next. Pike exchanged a glance with Puri and reactivated his communicator.

"Pike to the Farragut. Two to transport."

Once back in McCoy's former room, Puri gathered his things and left at Pike's side. He suppressed the smile that started to form as the other medical personnel in the area were trying not to be obvious about waiting for them to leave the building. Once they were away, Puri cast a glance over his shoulder and laughed.

"I'd about pay to see the expressions on their faces when they go into that room."

"Actually, I was thinking it was a shame I didn't think to set up surveillance where we left those three. Could have made for some stimulating viewing, Raj."

"Like you need help in that department, Chris."

Smirking, Pike directed their steps toward home, wondering if anyone would be idiotic enough to complain about McCoy being removed from Medical. He almost hoped someone was. He hadn't seen Puri let loose on anyone for months.


	15. Part XV - Plotting

**Part XV - Plotting**

Once Pike and Puri's images had faded fully away, Gaila gave a shudder.

"Captain Pike scares the gisjacheh out of me, Jim."

Kirk laid a hand on her shoulder and kissed her just below her left ear before whispering.

"Good. You'll live longer and happier if you remember that. Come on, let's find a comfortable place for Bones to rest."

McCoy's voice was hoarse and soft, but loud enough for them to hear.

"Forget rest - settle me on the couch. I won't sleep until whatever Puri shot into me wears off."

"Just as well, Bones. We've got things to talk over. Like getting back at whoever did this to you."

After he was settled on the couch, McCoy looked from Kirk to Gaila.

"Should we be talking about this now? And if we are going to talk, I sure as hell need something to drink."

Seeing where McCoy's gaze was, Kirk nodded thoughtfully.

"Good point, Bones. Gaila - Bones and I are going to discussing some things that are likely to get down and dirty. Things you might rather not become part of because - well, because sides are going to be drawn."

Leaning around the back of the couch and gently running her hands through McCoy's hair, Gaila's blue eyes seemed distant as she spoke.

"I need to ask. Is this about whoever hurt Leonard?"

Kirk nodded firmly.

"It is. And it's not giving away any big secret to say we're going to kill the bastards."

"I want in then. Please. I can help. I know I can."

McCoy gave her a small smile.

"Folks been less than kind to you as well, have they? I don't mind you taking a pound of flesh along with us. So long as you let me and Jim do the directing."

Gaila's smile had an edge to it.

"That's fine with me, Leonard. Direct away."

"Hang on a minute."

Kirk headed into the kitchen area and rummaged, finding some juice of some sort and bringing it back for McCoy.

"Here, Bones. You need to build up to the good stuff again. Soooooo - the way you were talking makes it sound like you've already given things some thought."

Taking the glass from Kirk, McCoy took a long, slow drink as Gaila came around from behind the couch to sit alongside him. Kirk took the opportunity to settle himself, using the table in front of the couch as a bench. When he lowered the glass, Gaila smoothly took it from the doctor and held it for him. A sardonic smile formed on McCoy's face as he began to speak.

"Oh, I've given it some thought, Jim. I'm not positive exactly how long I was in that damn hospital room, but I was in too much pain to sleep. Thinking about what I wanted to do to those assholes is what kept me going. And if you really are willing, I certainly have a project that you could probably do that Jim and I can't."

Her eyes were a much deeper blue than Kirk's but the fire behind them was bright.

"Tell me."

"I got a good look at the ones that jumped me. Pretty sure I got in a shot or two before they pulled me down, but that's not what's important. Thing is, I heard a couple of them talking. Someone over in Medical was behind it all, but I never heard a name."

Gaila's smile stood out like a patch of snow on new grass as she made the mental leap.

"You want me to find out who in Medical arranged everything."

"Exactly right, darlin'. Jim and me need to do two things. First is show folks that nobody is going to do anything to either of us without it coming back to take a hunk out of their ass. Second is to demonstrate that we're gonna be a force to be reckoned with on campus."

The smile faded a little and Gaila worried her lower lip with her teeth for a moment.

"That's going to draw more fire."

Smirk firmly in place, Kirk leaned forward enough to put a finger under Gaila's chin.

"Like I said - lines are going to be drawn. But we're the ones that are going to be drawing those lines. And I won't be leaving Bones alone on campus again. I'll also let you and Bones in on a little secret that stays with the three of us. After we take down the nest of SOBs that were behind or involved in the attack, Puri's going to go public as your mentor, Bones."

Leaning back, McCoy let out a slow whistle.

"So - offing these jokers is going to be my way of proving myself to him? That doesn't really sound like - wait. Wait right there. This is your work, isn't it, Jim?"

Moving away from Gaila again, Kirk gave a casual shrug.

"I'm not denying it. Pike was talking about Puri making it known while you were still in the hospital and I asked them not to. I thought it would make you look too much like a pawn instead of a more powerful piece on the gameboard."

"Spare me the chess analogies. Whatever Puri gave me must metabolize fast - I'm losin' steam."

"That's fine with me, Bones. I haven't gotten any sleep since I came back on campus myself. Come on, Gaila. Let's find the bed and let's hope it's a nice big one."

"Oooo, I like the sound of that, Jim."

A moan came from McCoy.

"I swear, you two have more than your share of hormones. Hell, more than a dozen people's share of hormones."

Bending closer, Gaila nuzzled McCoy's ear.

"Don't be grumpy, Leonard. Didn't I show you last time that I can make you feel very good even if you aren't able to add anything in?"

Gaila took one arm and Kirk took the other arm as they slowly made their way into the bedroom. The bed was large - in fact, large enough that Kirk was immediately suspicious. Leaving Gaila to help McCoy undress, Kirk looked over the ceiling slowly.

"You think the old guys might be watching?"

Laughing, Gaila turned down the sheets, then began shedding her own clothing, tossing the items over McCoy's.

"Let them. Maybe then we'll find out if old dogs really can learn new tricks. Because I bet I have a couple they haven't seen."

Turning around and getting a good look at both McCoy and Gaila, Kirk's smirk returned and he began tugging off his own shirt.

"Lights - two percent."

The bed dipped to McCoy's left and he found himself between Kirk and Gaila. That wasn't what he had expected - he'd thought that Kirk would have gone to the right to play with Gaila. His brain stopped considering things like that as he felt her hands and lips begin to work their magic on him again. Time became a very fluid thing, but a some point, McCoy sensed something had changed.

Opening one eye slightly, he saw Gaila in front of him, watching. For a moment, he was puzzled. How could Gaila be over there when Gaila was behind - ah. McCoy went very still for a few heartbeats as he processed what this meant. Then Kirk moved again and McCoy's breath caught in his throat. Seemed like there was more to this alliance stuff than he'd known. After another minute of thought on the matter, he really couldn't say he minded much.


	16. Part XVI - Vengeance

**Part XVI - Vengeance**

The school break ended and McCoy returned to his class schedule as if nothing at all had happened over the break. He even passed by some of the very cadets that had beaten him in the halls, showing no indication that he remembered a thing. At first, they were wary of him, then they began mocking him behind his back. Either they had beaten him enough that he didn't remember what happened or he did remember and was too chicken-shit to do anything about it. Either way, they were in the clear.

Watching over events from a distance, even Pike and Puri were beginning to wonder if their toys had possibly gotten cold feet. After discussing it with one another, they decided to let things go at their own pace - even if that pace proved to be a full stop. It wasn't until March 15th by the old Earth calendar that things began to happen, but when they did start, it was like watching a pattern of carefully laid dominoes begin to fall.

Hurrying away from his last class, Cadet Julius Presli was headed toward an isolated spot to meet up with Cadet Jarl Forseth. Both of them had been involved in the attack on McCoy even though neither of them had even so much as met the doctor before that. They had been relieved that there hadn't been any repercussions so far, but word had come to them that one of the other cadets that had been there that day was about to confess everything. That could ruin all of their careers and for what? Some idiot that didn't even remember what happened?

As he entered the designated area, Julius frowned. It was very dark inside. Edging his way in carefully, he called out.

"Jarl?"

The voice that answered wasn't Jarl's. The voice was deeper and rich with a thick Southern drawl.

"Jarl's here, but I'm afraid you aren't likely to have a lot of luck getting an answer out of him. Unless you brought along one of those old Ouija board things."

Julius immediately spun around only to find Kirk leaning in the doorway with an unpleasant smile firmly in place.

"Your choice of the hard way or the easy way, Julie. Outcome is going to be the same either way."

In full panic, Julius swung at Kirk. Kirk blocked the punch easily before sending Julius to the floor with his own punch. Taking the time to shut the door, Kirk shook his head as he ordered the lights to come up.

"Guess what, Bones. He's only good in fights with six-to-one odds."

McCoy's voice was dry as he strolled over.

"Really? Imagine my surprise. Hello, Julius."

McCoy stood over Julius and began dropping something onto the downed man's chest, one at a time. Kirk was a bit disappointed when the man started to blubber when he finally recognized the items as the gold Imperial symbols that were on the collars of the cadet red uniform. Five of them. McCoy kept speaking as it nothing were happening.

"You know, my momma was a English teacher back in the day. Big fan of Shakespeare. Read that stuff to me until it was stuck in my head. When I finally got all the names, I saw yours and decided you were going to be last. Know why? Julius. I've always liked that name, but you don't run into too many people named Julius these days. Momma said it was because of some sort of orange drink that got popular. Nobody wanted to name their kid after a drink. But I digress."

"You can ask Jim. I looked over the names and pointed you out. Said 'Jim? I want to send these SOBs to hell on March 15th.' The ides of March. Kind of poetic, don't you think? Or are you still freaking out too much about this whole 'I'm about to die' shit to appreciate the amount of trouble I went to on your behalf?"

Kneeling beside Julius, McCoy's fingers deftly removed the gold emblem from his collar. Julius followed the gold glint with his eyes and missed the movement of McCoy's other hand until the hiss and slight sting alerted him that he'd received an injection. McCoy held one shoulder down as Kirk moved to hold the other down.

"No need to get all sweaty trying to do anything fancy, Julius. You won't be able to move much more than your head soon. In fact, I think you can let go of him now, Jim. You know, I should have asked while you could still talk, Julius, but hopefully you don't have anyone back home that will be expecting a body to bury. Won't be enough left of you for that."

Shifting his attention to Kirk and ignoring the man between them, McCoy began to regather the gold pins.

"You know, Jim? It's a downright shame that I can't hang onto these to remember them by."

"Maybe next time, Bones. But I think these would be better gift-wrapped and sent to Pike."

"That's probably for the best. Won't be sending them until we have our little heart to heart with Doctor Slater though."

Smiling, McCoy turned his attention back to Julius.

"Do you have any idea just how many ways there are to kill a man, Julius? Especially someone in your current condition? There are so many and I haven't even tried them all yet. See this hypo here? I've got a little formula in it that I developed a few years back when I was an intern and bored. Bet you can't guess what it does. Jim, you care to take a guess?"

"Well, you've bragged about the number of poisons that you know. Is that one of them?"

"Not this one. This one here will cause a rapid displacement of calcium from the bones."

After explaining the first part to Kirk, McCoy looked down on Julius and began giving him the details.

"Once it starts working on your rib cage, your ribs will start collapsing. At that point, it might be a race to see whether your heart will stop beating due to the extra pressure on it or if you suffocate because your lungs won't be able to expand properly any more. Care to make a wager?"

"Not this time. I need to get things ready for Doctor Slater."

"Is it that time already? Sorry, Julius, but I guess we need to get this out of the way."

Pressing the hypospray firmly against Julius, McCoy released the contents, then tucked the instrument back into his pouch before getting up and paying no further attention to the slowly dying man on the floor.

* * *

It had taken Gaila a total of six weeks of careful observation, questions and sleeping with the right people before she was able to get the name of Doctor Benjamin Slater for McCoy. The name hadn't meant anything to him, but it didn't take a great deal of research to discover that the man had been a rival of Doctor David McCoy and an unsuccessful rival at that. It didn't take a great deal of imagining to suppose that he'd decided to take the grudge against the father out on the son.

Slater had been cautious the first month after the attack, but after two months had gone by without any signs of repercussions, he let his guard relax and Gaila was able to get close enough for her pheromones to do their work. She found him repulsive but since she had been adamant that she was going to help deal with McCoy's attackers, she pushed her personal feelings aside and began sleeping with him.

It was a huge relief to her when Kirk slipped a note to her with a time and place. At McCoy's suggestion, Gaila had already gotten Slater used to her asking him to meet her at unusual places for sex (the roof of the Admissions building, the locker room of the Academy's track team and cargo bay of the shuttlecraft mockup to name a few), so the whispered instructions for where and when their next meeting would be was accepted without question.

When she met Kirk and McCoy to let them know it was all set, the two men gave her a very enjoyable evening before giving her very firm instructions to make sure she was both off campus and in a very public setting when the time of the appointment came. It had been noted by that point that Gaila and Slater were often see going to different places together and they wanted to make sure that nothing about Slater's disappearance would come back on her.

Gaila decided to kill two birds with one stone. Her roommate, Nyota Uhura, had been trying to drag her off campus for a day of shopping, but Gaila had been putting her off - ostensibly because of Gaila's engineering projects. When Gaila told her that she'd be free that day, Uhura brightened up and immediately began making plans. From the sound of it, Gaila wouldn't have any problem meeting the requirement to be in very public places.

Now, it was nearly time, but instead of finding Gaila waiting, Doctor Slater would be finding himself alone with Kirk and McCoy. The pair were waiting for his arrival with slight impatience, Kirk was perched on a stool he'd located somewhere and munching on an apple while McCoy was idly toying with the hypospray in his hand. They both looked slightly bored until they heard the door opening, then they transformed immediately into predators. Cats watching a mouse hole after hearing movement.

Slater stepped inside, allowing the door to shut behind him. The lights were dim, but that also wasn't anything he wasn't already accustomed to at the meeting places with Gaila. He didn't order the lights up - she had teasingly scolded him for impatience when he'd done that before.

As Slater moved further into the room, Kirk silently moved between him and the door. His and McCoy's eyes were adjusted to the dim lighting and he could see McCoy watching with anticipation as Slater got closer to the body on the floor. When the toe of Slater's boot came in contact with Julius, McCoy smiled as he spoke.

"Computer - lights up twenty percent."

Despite the unexpected voice, Slater's eyes went first to his feet to see what he had hit. The sight of Cadet Presli laying there, looking like a half-deflated balloon, made the bile rise in his throat, but he couldn't look away even as McCoy began speaking again.

"Why, Ben - a body might almost think that you didn't expect that the piper would eventually have to be paid. You knew my father and you knew what a total bastard he could be. Did you really think I was going to just roll over and ignore what was done to me?"

Then Kirk spoke up using an equally condescending tone.

"And even if he'd been willing to let bygones be bygones, do you think I was going to feel the same way? McCoy is mine and nobody touches what's mine."

"Why, Jim, how very possessive of you."

A smirk came to Kirk's face as McCoy's tone indicated that he didn't mind in the least. Finally able to pull his eyes away from Presli's body, Slater turned and looked from McCoy to Kirk. At the look on their faces, he instinctively backed up - and promptly tripped over Presli's remains. As Slater hit the floor, both Kirk and McCoy drew closer.

"You'll never get away with this!"

The laughter from McCoy was dark.

"No need for you to be concerned about little old me, Ben. I learned how to cover my tracks before I killed Daddy."

Slater's eyes grew wider.

"But - your father died of that disease. The one you discovered the cure for two weeks after he died."

Kirk's attention shifted to McCoy in time to see him give a little shrug.

"Technically, I discovered that cure two weeks before he died. I considered it payback for that shrew he set me up to marry."

McCoy lifted his hypospray, looking over it as he continued speaking.

"I gave serious thought to something similar for you. Something long, drawn out and painful. But you know, after I gave it further thought, I realized that you really aren't worth that much investment in time, Ben. You ever read my paper on neural rejuvenation? I was mighty proud of that little work back when I was twenty-four, but you know what I'm even prouder of right now? I know how to degrade the neural pathways too. Jim?"

Slater tried to scramble away, but Kirk was too quick for him and the older doctor was no match for Kirk's strength. McCoy hummed to himself as he took his time coming over, bending over just long enough to inject Slater.

"I'll explain quickly because you really don't have a lot of time to absorb this, Ben. All of the neural pathways that your brain has spent a lifetime creating are going to start shutting down in about three minutes. Your more recent memories will go first, so you won't even be able to dwell on the fantastic sex you had with Gaila for long. Then you'll forget sending those boys after me. Then you'll forget every scrap of Medical knowledge you ever learned. I'm estimating that in about thirty minutes, your brain will forget how to do things like blink and swallow. Shortly after that, it will forget little things like how to make your lungs and heart work. Thirty minutes really isn't a long time to make you suffer, but I'm willing to bet that it will seem longer than that to you."

McCoy moved away, going to the stool Kirk had been using and sitting down.

"Go ahead and let go of him if you like, Jim. We can stop him from leaving and in a couple more minutes? He won't even remember why he'd want to leave."

As Kirk got up and brushed himself off before joining McCoy, Slater's remaining coherent thoughts revolved around the way that Kirk and McCoy began laughing and joking with one another as if no-one else were in the room.

* * *

It was a week later that Spock approached Kirk and McCoy again as they exited the main building. They stopped in unison when they saw him and waited for his approach.

"Cadet McCoy, the names of those responsible for your assault have been found."

McCoy gave Spock a look that radiated pure curiosity.

"Is that a fact? Does that mean that I'm going to get to see them prosecuted?"

The Vulcan's face was stern.

"That does not seem likely. They all seem to have disappeared last week."

Kirk frowned at that.

"They must have known their identities had been tracked and fled the Academy."

The dark eyes moved to Kirk.

"Somehow I doubt that, Cadet Kirk. As they all apparently abandoned their possessions, the more likely scenario would be that they have been killed."

A low whistle came from McCoy at that.

"My, my. Imagine that. If you find out if they really are dead and who might be responsible, let me know. My momma brought me up to write thank you notes when someone does me a favor."

"This is not a joking matter, Cadet McCoy. I highly suspect that you are behind the disappearances."

"Why? Because I won't shed any tears if they are dead, Lieutenant Commander? You want a mourner for those sorry bastards, you're barking up the wrong tree."

Taking a small amount of pity and a large amount of amusement at the look of confusion on Spock's face, Kirk explained.

"Barking up the wrong tree - that means that you're looking in the wrong place, sir."

Spock's expression shifted and he gave McCoy a look that plainly said 'you could have simply said that to begin with'. McCoy just gave him a smile back.

"Is there anything else we can do for you, Lieutenant Commander Spock?"

They could tell that there was more that Spock wanted to say, but he refrained and slowly shook his head.

"Nothing more for now, Cadet McCoy."

Taking that as their dismissal, Kirk and McCoy continued on their way to the mess hall.

As Spock watched them walk away, he contemplated the comments he had heard circulating around the campus about the pair. Local rumor had no doubts as to which individuals were behind the disappearances and their collaboration was commonly being called an unholy alliance. Spock was beginning to harbor doubts as to Captain Pike's wisdom regarding wanting both of them aboard the Enterprise. Perhaps he might need to make an intervention himself before that time arrived.


	17. Part XVII - Demonstrations

**Part XVII - Demonstrations**

The 'unholy alliance' of Kirk and McCoy made it through the remainder of their first year, still alternating who was at the top of their shared classes. It had only taken two more 'disappearances' for even the most dull witted of their fellow cadets to figure out that they were not a pair to mess with. There were plenty of easier targets.

Entering the second year of classes, Kirk had another worry. Second year Command Track students had to spend time away from campus, sometimes off-planet at Starbases for up to a month at a time. There hadn't been any recent attempts, but the last had been made when the medical classes called for McCoy to go to a distant training hospital. Kirk had survived the assassination attempt, but it drove home the point that they were feared as a team, but not as individuals. Yet.

McCoy couldn't help but notice Kirk's poor mood and finally questioned it after the first round of second year testing was over.

"What's with you lately, Jim? You're ornerier than a Shetland pony in a field full of long legged mares."

Pausing mid-walk, Kirk gave McCoy a bemused look.

"Do you stay up nights thinking of things like that to say?"

"Naw. You bring it out in me. So - tell me what's up."

"Just thinking. You know I'm going to have to go off for field studies this year."

"Yeah, I know. Oh. You think the dim bulbs are going to come out of hiding and make an attempt on me while you're away."

Kirk nodded as he moved up to where the test results were posted.

"65% know better, but 30% are new and 5% are idiots. Some of the ones that don't even view us as rivals are viewing us as a challenge."

"Shame we can't just pack them up and let them go play with the Romulans if they want a challenge that damn bad."

The cursing coming from Kirk brought McCoy's attention back to the board.

"What is it?"

"My scores in Theoretical Physics have been topped. Hey, Bones - have you seen this name before?"

Coming over to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kirk, McCoy read the name out loud.

"Pavel Chekov? Nope. New one to me. Wait. That means either a second year got a brain transplant or he's one of the new class."

A green hand settled on each of their shoulders as Gaila moved to stand between them to gaze at the test listing.

"Oh, would you look at that? My little buddy is killing the class rankings."

That got both men to turn their heads toward her.

"Little buddy? You know this Chekov fellow?"

"Oh, sure, Jim. We're both in the same Transporter Theory class. I try to keep an eye out for him."

The last comment got McCoy's attention. He knew Gaila had a tender heart that really was put to the test in daily Academy life. She had learned to handle it by isolating herself with very few exceptions. The fact that this Chekov had made the exceptions list? That was something to ask about.

"Why are you keeping an eye on him? And how did he end up in your class? You weren't held back in anything."

Her merry laugh even managed to put a dent in Kirk's bad mood.

"How have you two managed not to hear about Pavel? He tested out of the entire first year and was put into our class."

That rang a bell and Kirk's eyes lit up with recognition.

"That's the name of the Russian whiz-kid? He's what? Sixteen?"

"That's him. And no, not until his next birthday."

McCoy looked back to the boards again, his expression showing plainly how impressed he was as well as highly amused that the name belonged to a Russian prodigy who couldn't even get into a bar legally. Looking back to Kirk, he could see some of the bad mood still lingered.

"Don't begrudge someone else in this place having brains, Jim. Lord knows they're rare enough around here. Besides, think of his age. He's got to have something going for him beyond brains or he would have survived to take the first battery of tests."

McCoy's comment seemed to have more than the intended effect. Not only did Kirk's bad mood clear, he became thoughtful. Both McCoy and Gaila tensed automatically. A thoughtful James Kirk was not always a good thing.

"You know, you have a point, Bones. I think we should get better acquainted with this Pavel Chekov. Gaila? Would you handle the introductions?"

Biting her lower lip slightly, Gaila looked torn, so Kirk put his hand under her chin.

"Bones was right. Real brain power is hard to come by. I won't promise you that he will never be on my bad side, but I can tell you that he isn't on it right now. And the odds of he and I getting along will be greatly improved if our first meeting is through you. Right?"

She looked into his eyes, then formed a small hesitant smile.

"Right."

Beaming at her, Kirk turned her around before she knew what was happening.

"No time like the present. Right, Bones?"

The tone of Kirk's voice mixed in with his body language told McCoy that absolutely no good would come of arguing against it.

"If you say so, Jim."

"I do. Lead the way, Gaila."

Apparently Gaila also knew the signs that said it was best to just go along with what Kirk wanted. As she led them toward one of the residence buildings, McCoy frowned.

"Whoa. He's still housed with the first years?"

"It even worse than that, Leonard. They have him roomed with a Security recruit. I don't know that Pavel's even slept in his room. The guy's made no secret that he hates 'brainiacs'."

A small frown formed on Kirk's face, but he remained silent. This kid didn't sound impressive if he couldn't even keep his spot in his own room, but on the other hand, Gaila didn't tend to gravitate to what he would consider losers. He decided to wait and see. Bones was right that there had to be more to the story or the kid would already have been eaten alive by the piranhas masquerading as other cadets.

As they approached the young man, Kirk barely held in a groan. He had hoped the young Russian at least looked older than his age, but if anything, he looked even younger. Chekov wasn't very tall and, unless he had a massive growth spurt in the next couple of years, he'd never see the six foot mark except by looking up. Add to that a mass of curly hair and a face that could only be referred to as baby-ish? How had this kid even survived to reach the Academy?

Then he noticed the eyes. The kid's green eyes were in constant motion. Chekov might trust Gaila, but he obviously wasn't automatically extending that trust to whoever happened to be with her. That showed he was smart in ways other than just with books.

Since she was committed, Gaila had put on a bright face and moved to make the introductions.

"James Kirk, Leonard McCoy - meet Pavel Chekov. Make a guess how many knives he has on him."

The illusion of boyish innocence was shattered for a moment by the malevolent look Chekov shot at Gaila. The look didn't seem to bother her in the least as she chuckled and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Everyone has to sleep at least occasionally, Pavel. You could do a lot worse in the way of allies, but I doubt you could do better."

"Three."

McCoy looked over at Kirk, who gave him a shrug.

"Gaila wanted us to guess - I guess three."

After a look from Kirk to Gaila, Chekov also gave a small shrug.

"Ten. Not counting the visible one."

Since he really wasn't sure he wanted to know where the kid had that many knives hidden, McCoy asked a related question.

"Are you any good with them?"

"Da. I am very good with them."

That prompted Kirk's question.

"Really? Then why is your roommate still alive?"

The frustrated expression on Chekov's face made Kirk start to rethink his assumptions.

"Because I was told that if my roommate were found dead in our room, I would be shipped back to Russia and lose my chance to be at the Academy until I turn eighteen. I do not want to waste three years because I could not put up with an idiot."

McCoy and Kirk both started chuckling at the same time. Chekov gave Gaila a puzzled glance, but she was as confused as he was until Kirk looked back to them, smiling with a dark look in his eyes.

"Well then, I guess you'll just have to make sure he's not found in your room."

"Assuming he's found at all."

Chuckling again, Kirk nodded.

"Bones has a point. Tell you what, Chekov. We all go see about your roommate - Wixson, isn't it? You impress Bones and myself with your knife skills? We'll take care of the body."

The desire to show off his skills, the pleasant thought of getting rid of his hated roommate and native caution all warred inside Chekov for a moment before he spoke again.

"Why is it I should bother trying to impress the two of you with my skills?"

"Because my mentor told me at least one truth, Chekov. No-one can make a success of a Starfleet career without support. All four of us have different talents, but you're like us. Aptitude scores off the charts. Forget all other considerations for a minute and just consider this - would you rather ally with brains or brawn?"

There was no hesitation before Chekov answered.

"Brains."

"Then show us what you can do. I have an important job that I need taken care of, but I'm not about to trust it to just anyone. Also, impressing me is one way to possibly get yourself noticed by Captain Pike. There's a lot of cadets that would be willing to do a lot more than what I'm asking just for the chance to be considered for the Enterprise when she leaves Earth."

By the way Chekov's eyes lit up at the mention of the Enterprise, Kirk knew he'd found the item that tipped the scale. McCoy apparently recognized it as well since he turned to Gaila.

"Time to make yourself scarce, Gaila, my dear."

She gave a heavy sigh, but she knew McCoy was right. She knew what went on and had a very good idea about what was about to happen, but she didn't get into watching it.

"Should I go to a public place again, Leonard?"

"No, in fact? Changing it up might be a good thing. really, you can go anywhere that it can be proven where you were. Weren't you talking about a engineering lab you wanted to run through? Since you sign in and out of the labs, be easy enough to prove where you were later."

Nodding, Gaila headed off to gather the things she needed for her research project. She wasn't worried about leaving Chekov alone with Kirk and McCoy now. He'd be fine unless he did something really dumb.

Once she had left, Chekov took the lead. He took Kirk and McCoy to a relatively secluded area, then asked the two to wait there. It was about fifteen minutes later when Chekov returned in the company of a cadet that was considerably larger than the late 'Cupcake', probably at least six foot five. Kirk could see why Chekov would be wary of Wixson. The guy could cause severe injuries to someone just by sitting on them.

Wixson slowed when he caught sight of Kirk and McCoy loitering in the area and turned to Chekov.

"You said we were going to settle things between us, shrimp!"

Deliberately making a show of sitting down, Kirk called out.

"Don't mind us. We're just here to watch."

Shrugging, McCoy followed Kirk's example and sat down next to him. Once Wixson was satisfied that they were just spectators, it didn't take long for him to start the fight. Without warning. Fortunately for him, Chekov was apparently expecting something like that.

The fight was never a sure outcome. Chekov was more agile and quicker, but one lucky blow from Wixson could have turned the tables quickly. The knife work was often too fast to follow, but Kirk couldn't see where Chekov was doing any real damage.

"What is he doing, Bones? Dragging out this fight isn't going to be to his advantage. The bigger guy is bound to have more stamina."

McCoy was, of course, looking at the fight differently than Kirk was.

"He might for the moment, Jim, but all those little cuts are bleeding. Wixson is going to start feeling that before long. Besides, I think I see Chekov's game plan. See how he's looking for an opening to get behind him?"

Leaning forward a bit to better watch the hummingbird fast moves, Kirk soon saw what McCoy was talking about, but wasn't positive what good going behind him would do for Chekov. The opening finally came and the slash at the back of Wixson's leg was followed by a scream as the large man toppled. Neither the scream or the man lasted long after that. Getting back up, Kirk applauded.

"Well, I was impressed. How about you, Bones?"

"Best blade work I've seen from a non-surgical trainee. You know, with a few anatomy lessons, you could make those running cuts a lot more effective."

It took a moment for Chekov to answer. He was breathing hard and trying to catch his breath now that the fight was over.

"I will keep that in mind, Doctor."

Circling the body with a smirk forming, McCoy spoke again.

"Head on back to your room. Get cleaned up and get some sleep. We'll take care of this and talk to you tomorrow."

McCoy waited until Chekov had left before commenting again.

"Can you imagine how fast that kid would have been if he hadn't been exhausted to start with?"

"Chekov was pretty impressive as it was. I missed the move that dropped him. What did Chekov do?"

"Very old maneuver that's called hamstringing. I can't really explain the details without going into anatomy details that wouldn't mean much to you, but basically, he sliced through a muscle/tendon group that allows you to move your leg. It was used centuries ago as a method of torture. Painful, crippling and potentially fatal due to blood loss if not treated promptly. Chekov has a grasp of at least some basic anatomy, but with a few pointers, he could have had Wixson down faster."

"So, speaking of Wixson - how are we disposing of this guy? He's not exactly a lightweight."

"One advantage of Puri openly becoming my sponsor."

Pulling out his communicator, McCoy adjusted a setting.

"McCoy to Department 30. Code blue."

~Acknowledged. Are you onsite?~

"Affirmative."

Kirk stepped back as the hum of a teleport became audible. A man solidified, gave a brief nod and handed something to McCoy as he moved over to the body. The man gave Wixson's remains a quick lookover, then activated his own communicator.

"Beaming back with a package. Weight approximately 100 kilograms."

A minute later, nothing but blood remained to show a fight even occurred in the area. McCoy pointed the small device he'd been handed at the first bloodied area and before long, even the blood was gone. At Kirk's obvious curiosity, McCoy showed him that small object that wasn't much larger than the scanner he'd made for testing drinks.

"It's built on some of the same principles as phasers, but it's used to dispose of biologic matter. Doesn't have enough power to disrupt living matter, but it works fine for basic cleanup of blood, flesh and such. One day, I'll get one of my own to keep in my kit."

"Why not get one now?"

Giving the device a look as he sighed, McCoy gave a rueful chuckle.

"Same hold up as for a lot of other things I'd like to have. Not enough credits to my name. Believe me, they'll come looking for me if I don't turn this back in at the hospital."

"That reminds me, where did he take Wixson?"

"This is the Academy, Jim. Cadavers are always needed. When Doctor Puri took me on, he put me in the system as one of the ones authorized to add cadavers to the system - no questions asked so long as they don't outrank me."

Kirk threw an arm over McCoy's shoulders and started walking back to the main part of the campus.

"You should make a list of things that you want, Bones. In fact, I think I already know a way that you could barter so that you can get a - whatever you call it - for your very own."

"We call it a defluoroner. Comes from a Latin word that can mean either waste or disappear depending on the context. But back to the subject at hand, what the hell do I have to barter with?"

"Pike caught me making use of the scanner you made for me. He'd like a pair of them for himself and Puri. If they provide the materials and then pay you for your labor and knowhow with a deflu . . . - that thing?"

McCoy chuckled.

"I've heard you curse in Klingon and you trip over Latin?"

"Cursing in Klingon is as much a thing of getting the tone right as getting the sounds right. Latin doesn't flow as well. Come on, Bones. It's been a good day. Let's go grab something to eat."

"Say, Jim - what is the job you were talking about considering Chekov for?"

"I'll tell you about it while we eat."


	18. Part XVIII - Poison

**Part XVIII - Poison**

McCoy could feel eyes on them as they moved to find a place to sit. Glancing around, he spotted Spock watching them and scowled.

"What's wrong, Bones? Can't be the food, you haven't even tasted it yet."

Sitting down, McCoy stabbed what was purported on the menu to be meatloaf with his fork. "It's that damn hobgoblin again. He keeps turning up so often that I swear one day I'm going to wake up and find him in my bed."

Not seeming terribly concerned about it, Kirk scooped up a mound of mashed potatoes.

"Hm. He's a lieutenant commander and you're a cadet. Would that be trespassing or fraternization?"

"It would be damn annoying is what it would be."

Giving a glare in the direction of the Vulcan, McCoy then turned his attention very deliberately over to Kirk.

"So what about this job for Chekov?"

It took a minute for Kirk to swallow down his mouthful before answering.

"Good question, Bones. Especially since it concerns you."

"Me?"

"Yep. Chekov is going to be your own personal bodyguard whenever I have to be away from campus for classes. He can even use my bed when I'm gone."

Going silent, McCoy cut off a piece of his meatloaf and began to chew it slowly. He couldn't say he was thrilled by the thought, but he also couldn't say that he could think of any reason to argue against it that didn't make it sound like he was being petulant. Swallowing, he finally looked back up to see Kirk studying him.

"What if he doesn't want to, Jim?"

Gesturing with the fork still in his hand, Kirk dismissed that idea.

"Why wouldn't he want to? We should be, like, his two favorite people on campus. Or in the top three if we add in Gaila. And you know Gaila worries about you, so she'll be all for him doing it as well."

"He might not care to have our enemies become his."

"Oh puh-leese, Bones. The guy is cute, brilliant and young. He probably already has more enemies than we do. What's a few more?"

Seeming unconvinced by that argument, McCoy just shrugged. He started to begin eating again, but he stopped with his fork partway up, a frown forming. Then he lowered the fork back down.

"Jim, I need to get back to our room and I might need your help."

Red flags raised, Kirk lowered his own fork and then looked at McCoy's plate.

"Poison?"

"Yeah. Pretty sure. Taste of it was fully covered by the food, but I've got an aftertaste in my mouth that's all wrong. Dammit - I've got to get that food scanner working."

Casually getting up, taking his own and McCoy's tray to dump them into the recyclers, Kirk noticed a fine sweat was already starting to break out on McCoy by the time they reached the door.

"Do we need to hurry?"

"Getting there quicker would be good, but me increasing my heart rate will spread it faster which would be bad."

Kirk glanced back and saw what McCoy was complaining about earlier. Lieutenant Commander Spock had stepped outside after them and was watching, though not approaching. Kirk pulled McCoy to the side so that they would be out of his line of sight and pulled his communicator.

"Your mentor gives you a few helpful privileges - so does mine. Cadet Kirk to Transport Central - authorization Zulu Echo Nine."

"Transport Central. Destination?"

"Dorm room. Two to teleport."

"Stand by."

Not liking the sensation, McCoy shuddered as the beam dissolved, then reformed them inside their dorm room. Kirk took charge immediately.

"Sit. Tell me what to bring you."

"My tricorder and the kit I keep under my bed."

"Right."

He passed McCoy the tricorder before moving to pull the kit from underneath McCoy's bed. By the time, he sat the case down in front of McCoy, the doctor was pale and starting to tremble, but remaining calm.

"Open the case and look for the vial marked glucagon."

Fortunately for both, McCoy kept a methodically tidy kit, so Kirk located the vial in a matter of seconds, following McCoy's directions on loading the hypospray, setting the dosage and finally injecting it.

"Now what, Bones?"

"Now? Get me to the bathroom quick or we'll be having the 'me throwing up on you' issue again."

It proved to be a close call, but Kirk got him into the bathroom before the vomiting began. Several minutes later, McCoy was washing his face. Still pale and shaky, but since he didn't seem worried, Kirk relaxed as well.

"So? What kind of poison was that?"

"Actually, it wasn't one. Not technically anyway. Someone slipped praensulin into my food and dropped my blood sugar like a rock. More likely a ploy to get me taken to the hospital than an assassination attempt."

"Of course, getting you to the hospital might have been the first stage of an assassination attempt."

"True enough. Damn. Now I'm starving."

Now that it was obvious that McCoy was getting better, Kirk started to laugh.

"Do attempted assassinations always whet your appetite?"

Drying his face before leaving the bathroom, McCoy shook his head.

"One of the side effects of my blood sugar tanking. Just like the vomiting was a side effect of the shot you gave me. Somebody's showing a few brains, though. I was lucky. I'd only taken a bite before pausing to talk with you about Chekov. If I'd just been eating normally, I might not have noticed the aftertaste in time. Plus, I'd have gotten more of that shit in my system."

"More would have been worse, I'm guessing?"

"Could have gone into seizures or into a coma, so yeah. Worse. Praensula is a drug that the body treats like insulin. They came up with it because insulin is one of those drugs that you can't take orally. Stomach acids destroy it."

Leaning against the back of one of the chairs, Kirk had a smirk forming as McCoy slowly made his way to the couch.

"So. No more arguments about a bodyguard?"

Exasperated, but resigned, McCoy flopped down onto the couch.

"You can talk the kid into it, I won't argue it."

"By the way, your favorite Vulcan followed us out of the mess area. I see what you mean. It's kind of that that old horror movie where this doll keeps turning up everywhere the person looks and it's always staring at them."

McCoy turned his head toward Kirk a bit too quickly - which he immediately regretted as he held onto his head to rein in the nausea.

"Damn. You think he might have had something to do with this?"

"Hard to say, but I find it hard to believe that it would bother him much if one or both of us were taken down."

"Pike wouldn't be too happy about finding that out about his pet Vulcan. You plan to mention it to him?"

"Nope. That feels too much like admitting a weakness. Asking him to fight our battles, I mean."

After a moment's consideration, McCoy sighed and nodded.

"Yeah. You're right, it does. So where do we go from here?"

"First? You get cleaned up and we go off campus to eat. Second - you said something about a food scanner?"

"Yeah. I'm still work the kinks out of it. I've got the basics, but I wouldn't bet my life on its accuracy yet."

"I'm guessing that the biggest holdup is the funds for the parts to experiment with?"

"Good guess. I could also use some better tools than what I've got, but the pay we get as cadets doesn't stretch very far. Least we get paid tomorrow and I can see what I can do with that."

"I could find you sponsors, you know. Folks that would underwrite the cost for access to the technology."

"Bad idea, I'm afraid. Saw that happen with my father. Folks put in money, then they want a quick return. I'll figure out how to make it work, but there's not timetable on that sort of thing, Jim. I might have it working by next week or it might take me another year."

Fishing out the scanner he had already made, McCoy nodded toward it, pleased to note that the last of the nausea was fading away.

"From first concept to my first working model? Two years. And I've made improvements to it since then, so you can add two more years for getting it to where it is today."

"What if that rush for results was removed from the equation?"

"Well . . . yeah, sure. That would be ideal, but not exactly how these things usually work, Jim."

"Maybe, but let's not concern ourselves over how things usually work, Bones. It's not like we tend to do things the usual way, after all. Get changed. We're both hungry and I have some thinking to do. I'll comm Gaila and Chekov to see if they'd like to come along as well."

Getting up to go grab some clothes to take into the bathroom, McCoy gave a shrug.

"If you're serious about him becoming my bodyguard -"

"I am."

"- then I guess I need to get used to him being around. But I told him to get some rest."

"If he's too tired to tag along, fine. But I'm betting he's still got adrenaline going from earlier."

"Sure. Whatever you want, Jim."

As McCoy went to change, Kirk reached for his communicator and smiled as he repeated McCoy's words. Whatever he wanted. He rather liked the sound of that.


	19. Part XIX - Complications

**Part XIX - Complications**

As Kirk had expected, Chekov accepted the job as McCoy's bodyguard even though it wasn't really a paying job. To Chekov, knowing McCoy's position in regards to Doctor Puri was enough for him to see that there were tangible rewards possible in the future from the association.

When the time came for Kirk to go off for his first extended mission, he was relatively comfortable with how things were. McCoy and Chekov really weren't comfortable with one another, but then again, they didn't need to be. Chekov just needed to watch McCoy's back and McCoy just needed to let him.

It was almost seven weeks before the Year Two Command track cadets returned. Those that had survived the experience. Kirk had not only survived, but thrived. His reputation among his own career track was solidly fixed now after a blatant attack by two fellow cadets ended with the two dead and Kirk only slightly injured. His ability to tend to his own wounds with the small kit that McCoy had insisted he take with him only increased his stature. He made a mental note to properly thank McCoy for that.

All in all, Kirk was feeling very pleased with himself and the world in general until he stepped off of the transport shuttle and saw Gaila waiting for him. Normally, she would be a welcome sight, but not when she was wearing a worried expression. He waited impatiently until the class was dismissed, then hurried over to where she was standing.

"It's good to have you back, Jim."

"Don't bullshit me, Gaila. That's not a 'welcome back' look on your face. What happened?"

One green hand ran through her red curls as she couldn't quite meet Kirk's eyes.

"I wish I knew. There was an attempt on Leonard, like you figured there would be. It happened just two days after your group left, but Pavel handled it beautifully. Leonard didn't even get a scratch. Then about two weeks ago, Pavel woke up and found Leonard staring at his PADD. When he noticed that Pavel was awake, he shut it down and went about getting ready for classes, but he's not the same."

"Not the same? How?"

"He barely speaks, never smiles. Pavel says he's pulled out a bottle on more than one occasion, but he just stares at it for a few minutes before putting it back away. He won't leave the campus and he's eating at the mess again like nothing ever happened. Like he doesn't really care if someone tries again or not. I can't even get him interested in a little sex."

Despite the problem, Kirk was amused by the last part of Gaila's description of symptoms. She couldn't comprehend anyone that would turn down sex.

"That doesn't sound right, Gaila. Just before I left, he thought he'd figured out where his current project needed tweaking. He was just waiting for the pay to go through to get the tool he needed. Or maybe that's it? Maybe what he thought was going to work didn't?"

Shaking his head, Kirk dismissed that thought.

"No, that wouldn't be it. I've seen him after a failed try. He usually gets even more into it instead of discouraged."

"Since I've known you two, I've seen Leonard exhausted, sick, drunk, wounded - but nothing like this. I've been holding out the hope that seeing you might snap him out of it."

Not caring who might or might not be watching them, Kirk gave the Orion woman a light kiss on the cheek.

"Let's go see what's going on, shall we?"

When Kirk activated the door to their room, he found Chekov sitting at the table, looking rather forlorn as he kept an eye on McCoy, who was lying on his bed with his eyes closed. It was impossible to tell if he was asleep or awake, but considering the time of day, Kirk decided to assume he was awake.

"Hello, Bones - I'm back."

"Hello, Jim."

Well, the assumption that he was awake was correct, but the flat tone of McCoy's voice had alarm bells going off in Kirk's brain. He recognized something of himself in that tone. Turning away from McCoy, he looked from Chekov to Gaila.

"Why don't the two of you go grab some food off-campus and bring it back? I could use something decent after eating from old Alpha-style replicators for over a month."

Once they were gone, he turned his attention back to McCoy.

"Alright, it's just us. What happened?"

"What happened? I listened to Pike. Hell, Jim - I should have just stayed where I was. At least I was resigned to it back then. Having eighteen months of thinking there was something better that I could try for just makes it worse now that it's gone."

"Gone? Why is it gone, Bones? There hasn't been a new test battery, so I know you haven't flunked out of any classes."

Moving slightly for the first time since Kirk had entered the room, McCoy reached for something on the shelf near him and tossed it to Kirk, who caught it neatly.

"Your credit chip? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Take a look at it. And don't even bother asking for my passcode. We both know you can hack into it faster than I can tell it to you."

Smirking at the sideways compliment, Kirk took the chip and had the information downloaded onto his PADD in just a few seconds. It took him a moment to comprehend exactly what he was seeing.

"What the hell is this, Bones? They screw up your pay?"

"Nope. From now on, I only get ten percent of what I earn."

"What happens to the other ninety percent?"

"The message is still on my PADD. You can read it for yourself."

Reaching over to where McCoy's PADD was resting, Kirk picked it up and turned it on. As McCoy had indicated, a message was still on the screen.

~Lennie - It took longer than I cared for to get the paperwork all taken care of, but I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that me and our baby girl will be able to live quite comfortably on your salary. I understand that Starfleet will provide you with meals and uniforms, so I suppose I can't really look forward to you starving, but I suppose knowing that everything you're working so hard for is coming back to me will have to be compensation enough. And no need to worry about upkeep of your old family home. Now that you're out of Georgia for good, Clay has moved in to help out and he is very good with his hands. Some of the credits from you are going to throw little Joanna a huge first birthday party in February. Maybe I'll send you a picture so you can see what she looks like. Can't wait until you graduate and more credits come this way. - Jocelyn~

The silence hung as Kirk read the message through a second time before turning to McCoy.

"Jocelyn?"

"I think I've always referred to her as the Witch or the Wicked Witch of the Southeast around you, Jim."

"But you're divorced - right?"

"Yeah. Looks like she found a way around that little detail."

"And you never mentioned a kid."

"You're a genius, Jim. Do the math. How long have I been here?"

"You just said it yourself, Bones - eighteen months."

"And how old is the kid?"

"Turns one in February. That's five months from now, so that would make her seven months old. So you've never even seen her?"

"Quite right, I haven't. Now, let's follow that back further. To have given birth to a kid seven months ago, Joce got pregnant about fifteen months back - sixteen on the outside."

"Ah. So then - there's no way that kid is yours."

"Nope."

"Damn."

"That sums it up."

"You aren't going to fight it?"

"Trust me, Jim - if I could get in and out of Peach County with my hide attached, I'd take care of things. But since I can't? I'm working to give that whore and her newest lover an easy life. Best I can do is flunk out and end up on bedpan duty so at least she doesn't get as much."

"Bullshit. The biggest problem is where she is, right? If she weren't entrenched in Peach County, you could take care of business?"

"Of course I could, Jim. What are you suggesting?"

Plopping down on the edge of McCoy's bed, Kirk had that barracuda smile flashing radiantly.

"Me? Nothing. I'm a sneaky bastard, but I have access to someone who appears to be the master of bastardness. We're going to him with this problem."

McCoy's eyes were not only open now, but wide.

"Pike? You want to take this to Pike? What happened to taking care of our own problems?"

Giving McCoy a pat on the shoulder, Kirk was already in the process of pulling out his communicator with his other hand as he answered.

"That's when it comes to Imperial stuff, Bones. When dealing with shit in the civilian community, you need someone who has clout in the civilian world. Neither of us have that yet."

Activating the communicator, Kirk spoke clearly.

"Cadet James Kirk to Captain Christopher Pike."

"Pike here. What is it, Kirk?"

"Sir, Cadet McCoy and I need to get some advice from you if you have a moment."

Pike looked up from his communicator and met the eyes of Puri, who gave back an immediate nod.

"Fine. Five minutes. Use the transporter code and make the destination my quarters. Pike out."

Tucking away his communicator, Kirk offered McCoy a hand.

"Upsy daisy, Bones. You've got five minutes to get presentable before we go."

As expected, McCoy grumbled, but complied. Kirk grabbed McCoy's credit chip and PADD to take along with them. At the five minute mark exactly, he reactivated his communicator.

"Cadet Kirk to Transport Central - authorization Zulu Echo Nine."

"Transport Central. Destination?"

"Quarters of Captain Christopher Pike. Two to teleport."

"Destination authorization confirmed. Stand by."

McCoy's eyes automatically closed as the teleportation began. When he reopened them, he restrained himself from letting out a whistle. Not that he had expected Pike to live anywhere shabby, but this was nice. Really nice.

Both Pike and Puri were already seated and neither bothered to get up as Pike waved them over, indicating the couch.

"Come over, have a seat and tell us what you need advice on."

Since Kirk was more at ease speaking to Pike, he told the details to the two officers. Puri's eyes were extremely cold by the end of the story and he quietly got up and left the room. Pike turned his head and followed Puri with his eyes until he was out of sight.

"I hope whoever signed that order on Leonard's pay wasn't anyone I make use of. Raj isn't going to leave much of them."

Seeing the questioning expression on the faces of the two cadets, Pike just smirked.

"Raj is openly McCoy's mentor now, remember? Pushing through any sort of official Starfleet paperwork without consulting him is an insult along the lines of a slap in the face. He never lets an insult pass. Ever. Something to keep in mind. Now, can I safely assume that one of Jocelyn's weaknesses is greed?"

Despite himself, McCoy snorted.

"Yessir - you can very safely assume that."

Puri walked back in at that point.

"Same admiral you've had a few issues with, Chris. We'll look into that later though. You and James going to be making the travel arrangements?"

"I believe we can handle that, Raj. You and Leonard can concentrate on the welcoming committee."

"Excellent. Leonard? Come with me."

* * *

It was approximately two weeks later that Jocelyn was getting off of a shuttle in San Francisco, baby in her arms and Clay Treadway by her side for 'emotional support'. It was more like he was there to nudge her if she started looking more like a gloating ex-wife than a sorrowful widow. It was really very thoughtful of McCoy to have a training accident. She liked to think that him being distracted by her message to him might have caused it.

She supposed, if she wanted to be fair, that it wasn't really McCoy's fault that he hadn't lived up to her expectations. Doctors were supposed to be wealthy, step into rooms to consult with their patients for a few minutes, collect their fees and then be free to spend their evenings traveling to Atlanta to socialize with their elegantly dressed spouses on their arm. She didn't sign up to be the wife of a surgeon, on-call more often than not. A man that came home smelling of blood and antiseptic and who had no desire whatsoever to spend what little free time he had hobnobbing with what he termed as a bunch of snobs.

"Mrs. McCoy?"

A nudge from Clay reminded her to respond to that. She had never allowed anyone to call her Mrs. McCoy even when they were still married.

"Yes, that's me. And you are?"

"Commander Rajinder Puri. I was sent to escort you to Starfleet Headquarters. This must be Miss Joanna, but I'm afraid I don't know your other companion."

"This is Clay Treadway - an old friend of the family."

Clay extended his hand and Puri took it.

"Nice to meet you, Commander. I hope there isn't a problem with me accompanying Mrs. McCoy."

"Not at all, Mister Treadway. In fact, I'm glad to see she has someone with her for support. If you will follow me, please?"

Puri kept up idle chatter during the ride. He knew from McCoy that Jocelyn wasn't familiar with San Francisco, but whether or not Treadway knew the area was unknown. Neither of them seemed to notice anything odd though as the drive took them to a set of mockup buildings used for team situational exercises instead of to the actual campus.

Gaila was waiting in uniform and snapped to attention, saluting as Puri exited the vehicle. Puri returned her salute sharply, then turned to Jocelyn.

"Ensign Gaila will take charge of Miss Joanna while we go over the details. Sorry, but children are not allowed in the main offices. Imperial mandate."

Jocelyn didn't hesitate to turn Joanna and the bag with her things in it over to Gaila. Gaila stayed in position until Puri had escorted the two inside, then took a minute to smile down at the young girl who was trying to reach for the red curls.

"Come along, sweetheart. You and Auntie Gaila are going to visit a DNA lab. Won't that be fun?"

The office Puri led them to was one with Pike seated behind an enormous desk. They were each directed to a chair and Pike gave them a somber smile after Puri did the introductions.

"So sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances, Mrs. McCoy, but I appreciate that you were willing to come here and settle the matter of paperwork. It seems that somehow, Doctor McCoy neglected to fill out his insurance distribution forms, but fortunately, we were able to go by the forms you recently submitted for support payments."

Making use of a lace trimmed handkerchief, Jocelyn made a dab at her eyes.

"That is so like Leonard, sir. He was a very dedicated doctor, but he tended to forget to attend to practical matters."

"I've found that to be the case with more than one genius in my acquaintance, Mrs. McCoy. Let's get this unpleasantness dealt with and behind us, shall we?"

The smile on Pike's face was slowly altering to the shark one that tended to give the recipient of it the shudders. He slid a official form across the desk to Jocelyn.

"Do you know what that is, Mrs. McCoy?"

She leaned forward and looked over the paper with a frown. It was long and looked highly technical.

"No, sir. I'm afraid I don't."

"That, my dear lady, is a list of the charges and punishments involved with falsifying an Imperial Starfleet document. Your divorce decree, the division of properties ordered by the court as well as the lack of a child mentioned in either of those documents are both part of McCoy's service jacket. So, who is the father of Joanna?"

Jocelyn's face had been shifting between flushed and pale, but her facial expression was stern when she answered.

"Joanna is a McCoy."

Laughter came from the doorway and both Jocelyn and Clay turned deathly pale as McCoy himself walked through the door with Joanna in his arms and an amused looking James Kirk behind him.

"She's right, Captain Pike. Little Joanna here is a McCoy."

Then he turned and laughed at Jocelyn.

"I know you were possibly in a rush, but you should really have paid better attention to what sample you stole from the hospital - you got yourself impregnated with the sperm from the wrong Doctor McCoy. Captain Pike? May I introduce my sister, Joanna McCoy?"

The only ones in the room not laughing at this turn of events were Jocelyn and Clay. They would have tried to leave, but the only exit was very thoroughly blocked by Kirk. Pike's smile was fully shark now.

"Doctor McCoy, as her older brother, are you willing to accept guardianship over Joanna while she is in her minority?"

"I'm willing to accept that responsibility, Captain."

Pike looked over his folder again, flipping slowly through one page at a time before looking up at Clay.

"All the charges here seem to be against the former Mrs. McCoy. If you like, you may leave now if you would rather than be part of these proceedings."

Ignoring the pleading look from his lover, Clay was out of his seat and headed toward the door the second Pike finished talking. Kirk just gave the man a lazy smile and moved out of his way. His screams began a minute later. Chekov was apparently going to take his time with that one.

Pike never acknowledged any of the noises coming from outside, but Jocelyn had lost what little color remained to her face and sat trembling before his desk. Puri had a slight smile playing on his lips. This was the sort of thing Pike lived for. Having someone in front of him knowing that their fate was in his hands and that he was unlikely to be merciful.

"You have been found guilty of knowingly falsifying Imperial Starfleet forms. As the injured party in this case, Leonard McCoy is awarded all of your worldly possessions - which seem to mostly have been his to begin with."

Pike shuffled through the papers again briefly.

"There will likely be a bit of a shake-up back in your home county as well. It seems some of your relations have been taking liberties with the law that the Emperor reserves for himself. If they are fortunate, they might get the opportunity to redeem themselves by serving on one of the colony worlds. As for you . . ."

Pike gave a side-glance to McCoy before turning his attention back to Jocelyn. McCoy passed Joanna over to Kirk, then pulled one of his hyposprays from his ever-present kit.

"You are sentenced to hard labor at the Deneva colony mines."

Jocelyn was so distracted by Pike reading out her sentence that she never noticed McCoy's approach until he released the contents of the hypospray's vial into her. Her voice was nearly to the level of a screech as she turned on him.

"What did you do?"

"Just a little something to remember me by. A little disease that Doctor Puri came across during his research that we haven't found a cure for yet. It can only be spread by sexual contact though, so the miners will be safe enough around you so long as they keep their body parts to themselves. It's a real slow progressing one. Woman your age? Might take ten to fifteen years to turn fatal. Give you plenty of time to enjoy life at the colony."

She raised a hand as if to strike McCoy, but found herself in the grip of two Security men that had come in at Pike's command. For his part, McCoy paid no further attention as his ex-wife alternated between cursing and pleading. He walked back over to Kirk and took the seven month old girl back from his roommate.

"Would you look at that, Jim? She's got the McCoy eye color."

"Cadet McCoy?"

"Yes, Captain Pike?"

"Until other arrangements can be made, your sister can stay on campus with you. You're both dismissed."

"Thank you, sir."

As Kirk and McCoy left the room, Kirk's voice could be heard.

"You have a really cute sister, Bones. I bet she's a real magnet for the female cadets."

Chuckling, Puri moved closer to Pike as Jocelyn was taken away.

"So tell me, Chris - are we going to help supervise the dismantling of the government systems of Peach County, Georgia?"

The smile answered Puri before Pike spoke.

"Of course. It should be the most entertaining show around."


	20. Part XX - Kobayashi

**Part XX - Kobayshi**

Year three began as did the countdown to Kirk's goal of completing his training by the end of the year. He was well on track to do it except for just one thing. The Kobayashi Maru simulation. Kirk was fixated on it. Or obsessed, in McCoy's opinion, which he expressed on their way to the Academy nursery.

"Dammit, Jim - we might as well rename the Kobayashi Maru to Moby Dick and assign you to the role of Ahab. No-one's ever beaten it. I'm pretty damn sure it's been rigged so that it can't be beaten."

"Didn't you tell me once that it was once that it was considered impossible for a human runner to break the four minute barrier? Anything can be beaten, Bones. The only reason that it hasn't happened yet is because no-one has found the right approach. With that in mind, I've invited a few folks to our room."

"You didn't use Joanna to lure anyone in again, did you?"

"I may have mentioned that she'd be here, but that isn't anyone's primary reason for coming. I think. That reminds me, when she's older, I still owe Jo-Jo for finding out Uhura's first name for me. Who knew Nyota had a thing for kids?"

"Kids and Vulcans. Talk about a mixed bag."

McCoy shook his head as he entered the care facility and knelt down to watch Joanna's face light up when she saw them. She was walking better, but at eighteen months, the word toddler still applied. The woman in charge, an older Betazoid woman named Rashea Jal, followed over smiling. She and McCoy had gotten along from the second he threatened a very nasty death to anyone that touched his sister the wrong way and her telepathy told her that his threat wasn't just for show.

Rashea moved over to Kirk, who wrapped an arm around her waist. One advantage he'd found to accompanying McCoy to the nursery was the Betazoid woman - who was both very experienced and very willing to share her knowledge with a willing pupil. It had given Kirk a new level of respect for telepaths.

Rashea watched as Joanna very animatedly tried to tell McCoy about her day. It also amused Kirk to no end that Joanna was calling her big brother by what sounded very much like an attempt to say Bones.

"Joanna will be missed when she leaves for the Fontana Institute. Are you sure you want to send her so far away, Doctor McCoy?"

Lifting Joanna up, McCoy shrugged.

"She can't come with me into space yet and I'm not leaving her anywhere that the remaining Darnells might get their hooks into her. The program there for gifted youngsters is said to be the best in the Empire and since she qualified? I'm hoping she'll thrive there while I'm away."

McCoy didn't notice because he was focused on Joanna, but Kirk didn't miss the wistful look in Rashea's eyes.

"Yes, I suppose it is the best option you have, Doctor. See you tomorrow."

Giving Rashea a slight squeeze and a whispered promise about meeting on another night, Kirk fell in behind McCoy as he carried Joanna out.

"You know, Rashea's really gotten attached to Jo-Jo, Bones."

"Yeah, I know, Jim. Jo's pretty attached to her as well. Why? What have you got churning around in that brain of yours?"

"Nothing to worry with right now, Bones. Come on. We need to get ready for company."

The group that was gathering were the ones that Kirk had hand-picked to run the Kobayashi Maru simulation with him. The team included McCoy, Gaila, Chekov, Uhura and a cadet that Kirk had recognized as another Tarsus IV survivor, Kevin Reilly. They had come together, then melded in ways McCoy would never have guessed. Uhura and Gaila were already roommates, but Uhura and Chekov clicked together almost immediately and were exchanging favorite knife techniques within the first hour of meeting.

Joanna was happily settled on her 'Aunt Ny' as Kirk started the conversation going.

"Alright. We all went through the simulation once in assigned teams and then we went through it the last time together. Everybody make notes?"

Nodding brightly enough to make her red curls bounce, Gaila pulled out her PADD from behind her.

"I've got a few ideas jotted down."

Everyone else made similar comments before Kirk held his hand up.

"Before we go any further - everyone knows the risk, right?"

Reilly smiled broadly.

"Totally worth it if we become the first team to complete the Kobayashi Maru."

McCoy looked at Uhura.

"Are you sure about this, Nyota? Spock might be kind of miffed that you're helping beat his simulation."

"Are you kidding, Len? Anyone that thinks Vulcans don't brag has never heard him go on about how unbeatable his programming for the simulation is. A dose of humility would do him good. Besides, Vulcans really go at it hot and heavy when they're trying not to act frustrated."

That got a wince from every male in the room, but McCoy voiced the common sentiment.

"Way, way too much information sharing, lady."

Kirk started to chuckle after that, pulling out his own PADD.

"So, it's all to the good. We become the first team to beat the Kobayashi Maru and Uhura gets to have a wicked wild time with her Vulcan in the aftermath. Let's get to brainstorming, people."

By the time they were satisfied with their plans, McCoy had already put Joanna to bed. Everyone passed by where she was sleeping on their way out - she had become a mascot of sort for the group.

Stretching as the door shut behind the last one, Kirk grinned over at McCoy.

"You know if anyone ever tries anything with Jo-Jo, they'll probably look like they got into a fight with a porcupine even before you managed to get your hands on them."

"So long as they look like a porcupine before they get their hands on Jo, fine."

"And you say I sound possessive."

"You do. Never claimed that I wasn't the same way, did I?"

Chuckling, Kirk ordered the lights down before coming over to put his hands on McCoy's broad shoulders and touch their foreheads together.

"Let's get in bed and get some rest, Bones. Tomorrow is going to be epic."

* * *

As the core team assembled on the Bridge along with the first year cadets that were standing in for the non-vital roles, they took their positions. Uhura went to the Communications station, McCoy and Chekov took their places at the Helm, Gaila moved to the Science station and Reilly took the Tactical spot. While they each settled in, each was also entering in a small data chip and downloading them to their station. Individually, the codes going into the systems were nothing.

The test overseers were already talking about the sheer gall of this group of cadets requesting to retake the simulation for a third time. Few ever even requested a second try. They fell silent when the doors opened to admit Captain Pike, Commander Puri and Lieutenant Commander Spock. Pike just waved them back to their stations.

"Don't mind us. We're just here to observe the run through."

When Kirk stepped onto the Bridge, he was all smiles. He took the Captain's chair and gave a nod to indicate that they were ready to begin. The voice of the head overseer came over the speakers.

"You are about to run through the Kobayashi Maru simulation. The details are as follows : You are the Bridge crew for the ISS Cadet. The Kobayashi Maru is a merchant vessel carrying vital supplies for the Empire. The vessel diverged from its flight path and entered Klingon territory after which they took damage from a gravitic mine. The damage has resulted in the ship rapidly losing power. Klingon ships are patrolling the area near the wreck with the apparent goal of waiting until the life support fails and then claiming the cargo for their own. In order for this simulation to be considered a success, you and your crew must recover the cargo needed by the Empire and return to Imperial space without suffering catastrophic loss of crew or ship. Simulation starts in two minutes."

McCoy glanced over his shoulder at Kirk, who just gave him a wink. A faint smirk formed on McCoy's face as he turned back around to his panel as the simulation came to life.

Uhura's voice relayed the distress signal from the Kobayashi Maru, in which the merchant vessel relayed their condition as well as the supplies that were onboard and in route to the Empire. They also reported at least three Klingon warships were in their sensor range. Kirk took in the details and gave a nod.

"Miss Uhura, send back the message that we will be rendering assistance. Mister McCoy, bring us closer to their position. Mister Chekov, take helm control of the transporter. Mister Reilly, I want all weapons at ready. Miss Gaila, I want long-range scans on that vessel. Locate and verify that the cargo is still onboard and intact."

Everyone began to carry out their orders efficiently and the overseers nodded to themselves as the head overseer pressed the button to begin the next stage.

McCoy's voice rang out.

"Captain, we have two Klingon battle cruisers moving in an intercept course."

"Maintain our heading, Mister McCoy. Mister Reilly, full power to shields. Miss Gaila, do you have that reading for me?"

"I can make a basic scan, but we are still too far out for precise readings, Captain."

"Report as soon as you have that for me. Miss Uhura, try to raise the lead Klingon battle cruiser. Mister Chekov, the Kobayashi reported three Klingon vessels. Locate the third one."

"No response coming from any of the Klingon vessels, Captain."

"Captain Kirk, the third vessel is situated directly above the Kobayashi Maru."

"Captain, the other two Klingon vessels have come to a stop directly between our position and the Kobayashi. They are opening fire."

"Acknowledged, Mister McCoy. Mister Reilly, are the shields holding?"

"Aye, Captain, but they can only take this kind of punishment for so long."

"Maintain position."

Even as he spoke, Kirk slipped his own data chip into the console on his chair. The data string that downloaded from his made all of the other earlier inputs spring to life. The simulation area power dimmed briefly and then flared back to full as Kirk pulled out an apple that he had stashed in the Captain's chair earlier.

"Captain, I now have a lock on the cargo. Scanners show all materials are present and it would appear that they are in an undamaged area of the ship."

"Mister Chekov, lock transporters onto the coordinates from Miss Gaila and beam the cargo directly into Cargo Bay 4. Mister Reilly, get the attention of the Klingons. I want them to put all power to their forward shields. Phasers only, but have the photon torpedoes read to go."

"Aye, Captain."

"Cargo is now inside Cargo Bay 4, Captain."

"Thank you, Mister Chekov. Miss Gaila - rescan the Kobayashi to ensure no cargo remains onboard."

"No signs of any additional cargo, Captain."

"Mister McCoy, scanning report on the Klingon vessels."

"No signs of damages yet. They seem to have all their power to the shields facing us."

"Miss Uhura, still no response?"

"None, Captain."

"Close hailing frequency. Mister Reilly, lock on target Kobayashi Maru. One photon torpedo aimed dead center at her Engine room."

"Locked, sir."

"Fire."

As the Kobayashi Maru exploded, the shrapnel from her struck the Klingon vessel over her as well as two that had their backs to her. McCoy called out the report.

"Damage to all three Klingon vessels, critical damage to the one that was closest to the explosion, sir."

"Mister Reilly, fire photon torpedoes at the Klingons. First shot to the critical one."

In short order, the ISS Cadet was the only intact ship remaining. Kirk took a bite out of his apple, surveying the simulated carnage showing on the viewscreen with satisfaction. Smiling, he gave a nod to the Helm.

"Mister McCoy, Mister Chekov - set a course for the nearest base that we can relay the cargo over to. Damage report, Mister Reilly?"

"Our shields held, Captain. We took a little shaking, but nothing worse."

"Miss Uhura?"

"Reports coming in from all decks, Captain. Some minor injuries reported, but nothing else. No fatalities."

As the simulated ship re-entered Imperial space, the computer voice broadcast over the speakers.

"Simulation Kobayashi Maru statistics. Cargo fully retrieved. Kobayashi Maru destroyed with all hands aboard. No loss of life aboard ISS Cadet. All mission objectives satisfied. Simulation successfully completed."

If there was such a thing as cold fire, that was what Pike saw in Spock's eyes as he moved to the console and immediately began scanning the program banks.

"What they did was impossible within the parameters of the test. There was no such option allowed within the programming."

Pike and Puri exchanged amused glances as Spock looked from his console to the simulated Bridge where Gaila was draped over Kirk and McCoy was standing easily with an arm around Uhura's waist. The six were obviously enjoying their victory as the first-year cadets buzzed around them as fans would football heroes after a big win.

The sight of McCoy and Uhura together seemed to be a final straw, though the only way to tell was by the way Spock's hands were tightly clenched. Spock concluded that he had been far too lenient two years ago. This time, he would prove that those original charges of cheating had been valid. This time, he was going to bring the so-called 'unholy alliance' down.


	21. Part XXI - Review

**Part XXI - Review**

It didn't particularly surprise Pike when Spock called for a Review Board following the Kobayashi Maru simulation's conquering, but it did disappoint him. Instead of focusing on the ingenuity it had taken for the six to have not only figured a way into the system, but to have done it with the degree of finesse that they had? That was exactly the kind of brain power that had been his focus as a recruiter. People who could follow a marked path were easy to find. Those that could blaze their own trails were far rarer and he wanted each and every one of the six currently moving to stand at the front of the assembly to be aboard the Enterprise.

It was also not a surprise that Admiral Richard Barnett was the central figure on the Review Board. He was already being targeted by Puri for being the one to dock McCoy's pay without even minimal review of McCoy's jacket - which would have shown quite plainly that the man was divorced. Pike wasn't in the right position to go openly against an Admiral. Yet. But he was confident that no matter how the day went, he'd be able to turn it to his advantage. Just might take a little extra work is all.

For now, he wanted to see how the six cadets handled the situation. In yet another instance that failed to surprise Pike, Kirk and McCoy were in the central two positions, Kirk flanked by Gaila and Reilly while McCoy had Uhura and Chekov to his side. They looked to be a united front. So far so good.

Admiral Barnett scowled at the six, but if the plan was to intimidate them, it didn't seem to succeed. Rising from his seat, he addressed the group as the rest of the gathered cadets fell silent.

"Cadets, you have been called before this review board to answer the charges from Lieutenant Commander Spock that you knowingly entered a program of your own devising into the simulation computers and, by this method, defeated the Kobayashi Maru. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

Kirk stepped forward one step before speaking.

"The program worked beautifully, sir."

"You admit to cheating then?"

"No, sir. We merely expanded the allowed parameters of the test to allow use of options that would have permitted a win. In effect, we removed the cheating element from the program and then completed the mission with the resources we had at hand."

Eyes narrowed as he looked at Kirk, Spock spoke up.

"It would seem that you have failed to grasp the principal lesson behind the Kobayashi Maru simulation."

"I fail to see what a program designed to alter circumstances to prevent a successful completion regardless of the validity of the attempt is supposed to teach."

"The lesson of the test is to learn how you would react when faced with a situation where death is almost certain."

"If you wanted to know our reaction to a certain death situation, you could have saved a lot of money and just ordered us to walk unarmed off campus at night."

There was a bit of tittering among the watchers at that which made Spock's expression become sterner.

"I would think that you, of all people, would see the value of this type of self-examination, Cadet Kirk."

"Me? Why should I see the value of it?"

"Your father was George Kirk, was he not? The one that sacrificed himself to save the crew of the Kelvin?"

"My father was an idiot. No doubt brave, but an idiot. I don't believe situations exist that don't have a solution. I believe there are simply solutions that either no-one has considered or no-one has had the nerve to try."

"Everyone dies eventually."

It was at the point that McCoy lost his ability to let Kirk remain the only one speaking for the group.

"So what? So we all eventually die. Does that mean we should just go find a corner to go sit in until that happens, Lieutenant Commander?"

A slight smile played on Kirk's lips. He was actually pleased McCoy spoke up if for no other reason than McCoy making a valid point always seemed to annoy the shit out of Spock. Then Uhura drew his attention by speaking up as well.

"Begging the Admiral's pardon, we fulfilled the requirements of the test using only the six of us for input. I am not aware of any actual stated rule of the test that was violated."

From beside her, Chekov drew from memory the exact wording that was used before the test.

"Before the test began, we were told 'In order for this simulation to be considered a success, you and your crew must recover the cargo needed by the Empire and return to Imperial space without suffering catastrophic loss of crew or ship.' There were no limitations on what actions we could or could not take that given to us by our overseer, sir."

"I agree."

The voice booming from the back of the assembly hall had made the majority of the cadets jump. The man speaking was Admiral Wesley - who served both as the administrative head of the school and the Emperor's representative to the Academy.

"The cadets took a risk and pulled a victory out of what should have been certain defeat. In my opinion, that sort of initiative is more deserving of a commendation than a reprimand and I intend to see that appropriate mention is made in each of their service jackets. This Review Board is adjourned."

Before buzz could really begin in the hall, Commodore Ryder came in and hurried to the side of Admiral Wesley. The whole room seemed to hold it's breath as the Admiral frowned at whatever it was he was being told. Then Admiral Wesley went to the front of the assembly.

"Attention all cadets. We have received an urgent distress signal from Vulcan. All cadets are to report to the hanger for immediate assignment to ship. Get moving!"

Spock had gone still as a statue from the moment the word Vulcan had left the Admiral's mouth. He knew his father and he knew the Council of Elders. They did not like for Vulcan's business to be known to the rest of the Empire. For any sort of a call for assistance to come from them? The situation had to be dire. He was broken out of his train of thought by Pike's hand taking hold of his shoulder.

"The Enterprise is answering the call as well, Spock. Doctor Puri and I are heading aboard for the last minute checks. Admiral Barnett has requested that you take charge of the hanger area and get the cadets moving to their assigned ships. Once you've finished, join me on the Enterprise. I've gotten permission to take you on as my First Officer."

Despite the concern regarding the signal, Spock came as close as he ever did to smiling. Not only a position on the new jewel of the Imperial Fleet, but a command position that he knew full well many would have been willing to assassinate him over if it would have given them a shot at the position. First Officer. Even Sarek would be unable to deny the prestige of that position.

After Admiral Barnett handed Spock the PADD containing the cadet assignments, Spock headed briskly to the hanger area as he thought about his new responsibilities to the Enterprise. Stopping just short of the hanger, he opened the list of ship assignments and made three quick alterations. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he continued on inside. Both Captain Pike and Doctor Puri would be surely too busy to notice the change of assignment to three cadets and, by the time the crisis was over, they might no longer care. Pike might even acknowledge Spock's foresight in splitting up the group.

Moving to a central location, Spock began to call out the assignments. A slight frown formed on Uhura's face as she realized he wasn't reading them out in any sort of sensible order, but she reasoned to herself that perhaps the readout had been done in a hurry and Spock simply hadn't bothered to correct it.

"Cadet Kirk - Enterprise. Cadet Woolf - Hathaway."

As Spock continued reading names, Kirk gave McCoy a grin before heading for the first shuttle going to the Enterprise.

"I'll see you when you get there, Bones."

The thought of having to be inside a shuttle without either booze or Kirk to help him through it was not a pleasant thought for McCoy, but he managed to give Kirk a grin.

"Go on. You're about to bust a gut from wanting to get a look at her."

Kirk gave McCoy's shoulder a squeeze then headed off, leaving McCoy chuckling as he turned to Uhura.

"Is it just me, Nyota, or does he almost look like he's skipping?"

Chuckling, Uhura shook her head.

"It's not just you, Len."

"Cadet Chekov - Enterprise. Cadet Reilly - Hood."

Both Uhura and McCoy's heads snapped up at that, then they gave one another an uneasy look. Something was wrong. Pike had promised Kirk that if his team beat the Kobayashi, all the team would be aboard the Enterprise and Pike had never gone back on his word to Kirk before. Reilly looked dejected, but made his way toward the second shuttle loading for the ISS Hood as the first shuttles were already lifting off.

McCoy was quiet on the outside, but mentally cursing a blue streak as he wished there was a way for him to let Kirk know that there was a problem - and that problem appeared to be the hobgoblin's doing.

"Cadet Chapin - Buran. Cadet Gaila - Enterprise."

Without looking, McCoy knew it was Gaila who was giving his arm a squeeze. He wished he could reassure her that Reilly going to the Hood was a simple administrative error, but he rather felt in need of some reassuring himself. He could feel the faint tremble in her hand just before she pulled away.

"Cadet McCoy - Farragut. Cadet Uhura - Farragut."

Now it was Uhura gripping his arm. And using her nails.

"Nyota? I don't have the equipment handy to give myself a blood transfusion, so watch the puncture wounds."

"Sorry, Len."

The apology was automatic as her attention was fully on Spock. He was coming to the end of the list so she didn't hesitate to walk straight up to him, hissing under her breath at him.

"You changed my assignment. Why?"

Coolly looking down at her, Spock began to walk toward the Enterprise's shuttle.

"I had thought it would please you to be assigned to the same vessel as your doctor."

Mouth dropping open briefly, Uhura then stepped into his path.

"My doctor? This is about you being jealous of Len? Spock, the man's like an older brother to me. There's nothing more to it than that. I am supposed to be on the Enterprise. You don't think Pike will notice that I'm not at the Communications station where he expects me to be?"

Spock was quiet as he reached out without warning and grabbed Uhura's hand, holding it tightly enough that she couldn't pull away, but not tightly enough to cause damage. She scowled at him, knowing as she did that he was using his touch telepathy on her to verify if she was being truthful. After a minute, he dropped her hand and made an alteration to the PADD.

"You are on the Enterprise. The other assignments will remain as they are."

To head off any further arguments, Spock pulled out his communicator.

"Spock to Enterprise. One to beam aboard."

As he dematerialized, Uhura let out a number of curses in an equal number of languages when Gaila suddenly reappeared beside them, grabbing Uhura with one hand and McCoy with the other.

"Come on! Hurry! The shuttle is leaving soon."

Shaking his head, McCoy tried to pull away from her grip.

"Uhura can go, but I can't, darlin'. They won't let me onboard."

Gaila's blue eyes had a look in them that reminded him of Kirk's eyes when he was up to no good.

"They will. Trust me, Leonard. I'm not going to face Jim and explain to him why you aren't there."

When the trio reached the Enterprise shuttle, the officer keeping track of who was allowed on had a look on his face like he was drunk. Then McCoy remembered how he'd felt himself the first time he'd had a taste of Orion pheromones and, if it wouldn't have drawn too much attention, he would have kissed her on the spot. The officer was in such a stupor that he didn't even acknowledge them going onboard. Gaila stood beside him, tapping onto the officer's PADD to complete the roster check before getting to a seat herself.

A call over his communicator startled the officer out of his daze. Giving his head a shake, he glanced down to his PADD screen as he answered.

"Samuels here. No sir, no reason for any further delays. Yes sir, everyone is onboard and accounted for. Yes sir. Right away, sir."

Lowering his communicator, he called out to the shuttle pilot before securing the door.

"You're good to go and you're the last one out. Clear for liftoff."

On the shuttle, McCoy was seated between Uhura and Gaila. Knowing his problem with shuttle travel, Gaila took his hand and made use of her pheromones again to keep him distracted. He still kept his eyes closed, but he smiled.

"Thanks."

"No need to thank me, Leonard. I've heard the stories from Jim. This is insurance that you don't throw up on me."


	22. Part XXII - Vulcan

**Part XXII - Vulcan**

Captain Pike stepped onto the Bridge and took a deep breath. To hell with the alert, he was going to take a moment to savor the feel of his Bridge. He had been waiting for years for this very moment and nothing was going to spoil it for him. A glance to the Helm console to the left of the Captain's chair showed him Chekov was acquainting himself with the panels. Looking to the right, he frowned. That wasn't who was supposed to be there.

"Whoever you are, you are not Lieutenant McKenna."

"No, Captain Pike. I am Hikaru Sulu. Lieutenant McKenna is at the hospital with a case of lungworm and was unable to report for duty."

Sulu was still having trouble believing his luck. He'd paid off one of the medical students to give McKenna an infection to knock him out of the fencing tournament and now that move had ended up getting him out of the Astroscience department and into the Helmsman position. The only thing keeping him from feeling completed triumphant was the fact that he had only piloted an Excelsior class before which was nowhere near as technically advanced as the panel before him.

Pike started to question Sulu's piloting experience more, but was distracted when Kirk came onto the Bridge. A faint smirk crossed his lips as he gave a nod to his protégé and pointed him to the Tactical station. Shortly thereafter, Spock exited the turbolift and moved to the side of the Captain's chair as Pike sat down in it for the first time. He immediately turned his gaze to Spock.

"What was the delay in getting our last shuttle off the ground, Mister Spock?"

"Merely a last minute adjustment to the rosters, sir."

Sensing something was a bit odd with the way Spock was evading eye contact, Pike made a mental note to come back to that later. Right now, they were already behind the rest of the ships responding. The turbolift doors opened again and Uhura stepped out. The frosty look sent in Spock's direction didn't escape Pike's notice either, but he didn't comment on it as he directed her.

"I want you to give Lieutenant Chaplin a hand on the communications board. With seven other ships as well as Vulcan to listen out for, it's likely to be more than one person can follow."

"Aye-aye, Captain Pike."

"You were aboard the final shuttle."

"Yes, sir."

"In that case, since everyone is finally aboard, let's get this show on the road, shall we? Mister Sulu, get us away from the space dock."

"Aye, sir. Moorings are retracting and applying reverse thrusters now. We are clear of the dock."

"Set course for the Eridani system. Take us to the outer edge. With so many ships going in at once, I want to get a good overview before we move in."

"Aye, sir. Course laid in. Ship ready for warp."

"Then let's not leave them waiting any longer. Set her for maximum warp and punch it."

When absolutely nothing happened, Sulu became slightly flustered and relooked over the unfamiliar controls. Pike's spoke up, voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Forget to refill it with fuel after taking her out for a joyride?"

"No, sir. I believe that I -"

There was a heavy hint of patronizing tone in Spock's voice as he commented.

"You are, I believe, more familiar with older technology at the Helmsman station. I would suggest that you try again after disengaging the external inertial dampener."

Trying to hide his embarrassment, Sulu found the correct sequence then looked back to Pike. Pike just chuckled.

"Make a note, Mister Spock. When we return, I need to tell the Academy that they should be briefing the cadets on all the latest gear as well as the stuff that's been around since the instructors were children. Mister Sulu - get us on our way."

"Aye, sir."

This time, the Enterprise shot into warp and Pike leaned back in his chair in satisfaction.

"Engines now at maximum warp speed, Captain."

"Thank you, Mister Sulu. Mister Kirk."

"Yes, Captain?"

"Call up the mission statement at your station and do a shipwide broadcast."

"Aye, sir."

Kirk quickly called up the statement, not bothering to read through it first.

"Attention all hands. At twenty-two hundred hours, an anomaly in the Neutral Zone was detected by telemetry. The anomaly was said to resemble a lightning . . , storm."

Kirk's voice trailed off as he quickly read the rest of the message to himself before remembering what he was supposed to be doing and continued the broadcast.

"Shortly after the anomaly was detected, the Vulcan High Command relayed a distress signal to Imperial Starfleet Headquarters reporting that their planet has begun experiencing unprecedented seismic activity. Our mission is to access the level of threat to Vulcan, provide additional observations on the anomaly and, if necessary, lend assistance in the evacuation of Vulcan. That is all."

Turning off the shipwide system, Kirk turned around.

"Captain Pike, this is anomaly sounds very familiar, sir. A lightning storm in space was what was described in the last transmissions from the Kelvin. A huge Romulan ship emerged from that storm."

Uhura's head snapped up at that and she turned around immediately.

"Begging the Captain's pardon, permission to speak?"

"Go ahead, Miss Uhura."

"The night prior to the Review Board, I was monitoring deep space transmissions and picked up one from a Klingon outpost. They were reporting some sort of Romulan ship emerged from a space storm and destroyed an entire Klingon armada that was in the area. A full forty-seven ships."

Pike's full attention was on Uhura now.

"You're sure of this? Did you report it?"

"Yes, Captain. Our instructor was of the opinion that it was some sort of drill that the Klingons were doing. He didn't think it was feasible that one ship could have taken out that many Klingon ships by itself."

The words from Uhura solidified the danger in Kirk's mind.

"Captain, we're headed into a trap."

Stepping forward from the Science station, Spock spoke up.

"With the information at hand, I would have to agree that caution would be advised, sir."

"My guts are agreeing with all three of you. Mister Sulu - alter course slightly Drop us out of warp before we enter the Eridani system."

"Aye, sir. Entering course adjustment now."

"Lieutenant Chaplin, monitor for any transmission in Romulan and get me the ISS Hood."

"Captain, distinguishing between Vulcan and Romulan is nearly impossible."

"Really, Lieutenant? Miss Uhura, can you distinguish between the two?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Then you take the main panel and monitor. Mister Chaplin, concentrate on contacting the Hood."

"Captain, I am not picking up transmissions of any sort except from the planet Vulcan and even those are garbled."

"Captain, I can't raise the Hood or any of the other vessels."

"Let's err on the side of caution, shall we? Mister Kirk, raise the shields and sound the red alert. How long until we drop out of warp, Mister Sulu?"

"We will arrive at the outer edge of the Eridani system in two minutes, sir."

"Very good. Once we drop out, I want long-range viewers on. Let's get a good look at what's going on."

"Dropping out of warp in three. . . two. . . one. Viewscreen on."

There was dead silence on the Bridge for the first thirty seconds and then Chekov's voice came out as little more than a whisper.

"Chyort voz'mi."

The Romulan ship was enormous beyond anything they could have imagined and debris from the other ships was everywhere. Still, Kirk couldn't help making a remark to Spock as the Vulcan returned to the Science station and began his own set of scans.

"I think we've found the real Kobayashi Maru."

"For once, I am inclined to agree with you. Captain, the Romulan ship appears to have some sort of probe emitting a high energy pulse lowered into Vulcan's atmosphere. It would seem likely that it is what is causing the reported seismic activity. From the frequency, it will also be very likely to interfere with our communication and teleportation capabilities if we draw any closer."

"We have to knock out that device then. Mister Spock, would the frequency interfere with the operation of a shuttle craft?"

"Not from the readings that I am getting, Captain."

"Good. I'll be piloting one to it. Kirk, I know you're decent with hand to hand - you're with me. Anyone else on the Bridge trained in advanced hand-to-hand?"

Sulu turned and nodded.

"I've been trained in it, sir."

"Good - you're with me as well. Give a good showing and I might skip the booth session over that earlier slip-up."

Sulu straightened and met Pike's eyes. Pike didn't let a smirk slip, but he could give grudging admiration to someone that at least had the balls to look him in the eyes.

"I will, sir."

"Good. Spock, you'll be taking the chair while I'm gone. Remember, she's a new ship - any scratches on her will be coming out of your salary."

The smirk did show when he noticed Spock was taking that warning seriously, but he didn't take time to stop and explain.

"Miss Uhura, call Ensign Tavers to the Bridge to take over the helm and Mister Reilly to take over Tactical."

Kirk had been going over the scans of the probe when the silence from Uhura drew his eyes to her. She always responded immediately to a command, but now? Uhura's head was slightly lowered as she spoke.

"I will call Ensign Tavers, sir, but I am afraid I cannot call Mister Reilly."

"And why not?"

Neither Kirk nor Pike missed the way that her eyes cut briefly toward Spock.

"Mister Reilly was aboard the ISS Hood when it was destroyed, sir."

Pike was out of his chair and turning toward Spock instantly.

"You changed his ship assignment? You went against **my** orders?"

Pike's hands were clenched tightly enough that his knuckles were white as he reined in his temper.

"You are damned lucky that I don't have time to deal with you right now, Mister. Kirk!"

"Yes, Captain."

"I still want you with me on this mission, but on your return, you will be taking over the position of First Officer. Mister Spock, you will still have the chair for now, but once that probe is destroyed, you will be assuming the position of Science officer. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Captain Pike."

"Miss Uhura - call in Miss Kavela to take over Tactical and then call Chief Olson to meet me at Shuttle Bay Dock 2 with demolitions gear. Spock. keep the ship out of range until that probe is knocked out, then move in and beam our people back off. I'll be standing by with the shuttle, but removing them with a teleport will be safest. Kirk, Sulu - with me."

As Spock moved forward to take the chair, he was aware that all remaining eyes on the Bridge were on him. All probably wondering if he was going to turn on Captain Pike now that he was in the chair. That was not an option. Vulcans were still a wildcard so far as the Emperor was concerned and only Pike's forceful personality had gotten Spock a position on the Enterprise. Looking back, he could see that he underestimated Pike's response. It wasn't the value of the crewmember that Pike was angry with, it was that Spock had gone against Pike's expressed wishes. Doubtless, some time in the agony booth would be coming to him for that and he accepted that it was fair as he had not logically thought through the fact that he was disobeying an order.

* * *

On the Narada, the Romulan captain, Nero, was puzzled. The Federation had apparently changed over the years. The ships were built more like battle cruisers such as the Klingons tended to use. Even with the ambush, destroying the ships took more that he had expected and the Narada had even taken some damage herself. Still, the drilling operation was going well and soon, the cursed planet Vulcan would be no more. He was looking forward to that and hoping his old foe would enjoy the show. Ayel spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

"Lord Nero, I am picking up another vessel."

"Another starship?"

"No, sir. It would appear to be . . . a shuttlecraft. Shall we destroy it, sir?"

"Not yet, Ayel. I want a better view of this flea that dares to approach this closely. Put it on the screens and magnify."

When the registration on the shuttle became clear enough to read, Nero rose to his feet.

"She is from the Enterprise? Why was I not told that the Enterprise was among the vessels we destroyed!?"

"But Lord Nero, the name Enterprise was not on any of the ships we fought against.'

Nero's eyes narrowed as he looked at the shuttle again.

"ISS? I though all Federation ships began with USS. No matter. Let the flea continue on to Vulcan for now. They can go down with the planet. Prepare to launch the red matter."

* * *

Onboard the shuttle, the three men were getting ready to space jump from the shuttle to the platform on the probe,

"Be ready for anything, men. We have no idea what we're dealing with. Show no mercy, take no prisoners."

"Aye, Captain."

Easily the most blood-thirsty among them, Olson was first out of the door. He was also the last to deploy his chute, which made him first to reach the platform. He had barely gotten his bearing when a Romulan disruptor rifle hit him square in the chest, knocking him backwards and off of the platform. Kirk hit the platform next, retracting his chute immediately to help him dodge fire. Still in the air, Sulu had a harder time dodging and began to go off course when his chute was hit. Close enough to risk it, Sulu disengaged his chute and dropped the remaining twelve feet to the platform.

There were a couple of close calls, but Sulu made use of a retractable sword that he had brought with him while Kirk made use of both his hand phaser and anything else he could get his hands on. Both men were obviously used to fighting and fell into sync almost naturally until they were the only two left standing. Sulu glanced over the edge of the platform.

"Olson had all the explosives, didn't he?"

"Yep."

"So - what do we do?"

A smile formed on Kirk's face when Sulu automatically turned to him for an answer. Picking up one of the fallen disrupter rifles, he handed it to Sulu before picking up one himself.

"We ad-lib."

As they turned. they both saw a case shoot past them, heading for the hole that had been drilled into Vulcan's surface.

"And we start ad-libbing now. I don't want to be standing here when whatever that was goes off."

Both men began firing, not stopping until what had been the ever-present high pitched whining of the drill died. Kirk tested immediately, relieved when he was able to contact the shuttle and the Enterprise.

"Kirk to the shuttle and to the Enterprise. We have disabled the probe, but the Romulan ship fired something into the planet's core before we completed our mission. Enterprise, can you beam us aboard?"

Spock's voice came across.

"We will be within range for teleportation shortly. Stand by."

Chekov turned, shock evident on his face.

"Mister Spock, whatever the Romulans shot into the planet is starting a reaction. Gravitational forces are off of the scale - if my readings are correct, sir, the planet is going to implode from the stress. Almost as if a black hole is forming at it's core."

"Captain Pike, did you copy that last?"

"I did. Move in to alert the High Command. I'll get the men off the platform."

Spock turned back to Chekov.

"By your readings, how much longer does the planet have remaining?"

"Minutes, sir. Just minutes."

"Miss Uhura - open communications to Vulcan High Command."

"Aye, sir. Channel now open."

"Vulcan High Command, this is the ISS Enterprise. By Imperial Command, you are to order an immediate evacuation of the planet. We estimate that the planet has only minute to go until total destruction."

"Imperial orders acknowledged, Enterprise. However, we must inform you that the Council of Elders are inside of Katric Ark and cannot be reached in time."

There had only been a few occasions in Spock's life when the desire to indulge in the Terran habit of cursing was strong. The realization that his parents would be with the Council of Elders and that none of them would be able to be teleported off of Vulcan from where they were was quickly added this to that short list.

"Mister Chekov! Take control of the transporter from the Bridge and beam me down immediately to these coordinates."

"But Mister Spock, the planet doesn't have much longer before -"

Spock moved to an open area, kneeling down to help himself balance against the planet's death throes.

"Then I would advise you to stop wasting what little time remains. You have the conn, Mister Chekov. Energize."

While Spock did want to get the Vulcan Council and his father off of the planet, the one he instinctively moved to was the only one that had ever accepted him as he was - his mother. He brought her out of the Katric Ark - if the rest didn't follow, their fates were on their own heads. When they were finally out and in an area where the teleporter could pickup their readings, Spock looked around and noted that all the others had followed.

"Enterprise - lock onto our signatures and beam us aboard."

Even as he said the last word, another violent shudder ran through the area and the ground beneath his mother's feet crumbled. Forgetting everything else, Spock lunged forward and managed to grab his mother's hand.

What passed next took both an instant and an eternity. In her terror, all of Amanda's carefully erected mental shields were toppled and, for the first time in his life, Spock viewed the world through his mother's eyes. Her meeting with Ambassador Sarek at an event - Sarek's infection with a common Earth virus - the unlooked for side effect of the anti-virus causing early onset of Pon-Farr - the attack on Amanda and her subsequent kidnapping to Vulcan when her pregnancy was discovered - the years of being treated as an odd mix of exotic pet and courtesan, married only to legitimize their son - insulted to her face and insulted even worse behind her back. Her only solace being her son - the son who she now locked eyes with.

With a lurch of his stomach, Spock realized the one thing his mother wanted above all others - to be free of it all. As he felt the beginning tingle of the teleport, he loosened his grip and felt as her hand slid out of his. At the last touch of their hands and minds, he heard her parting words.

~I will always love you, Spock. Thank you.~

He began to dissolve even as she began to fall. His hand was still outstretched as it had been while holding her as he rematerialized aboard the Enterprise. Sarek moved over to him angrily.

"Why did you let her go?"

When Spock looked up with his dark eyes cold with hate, Sarek took an involuntary step back.

"Believe me that if such had been within my powers, she would not have been the one to have fallen, 'father'."

In what proved to be extremely bad timing, Puri had sent McCoy and one of the nurses to see if any of those rescued from the surface were in need of medical aid. Spock unleashed his anger at his father on McCoy, grabbing him and literally jerking him off of his feet.

"You! You are not supposed to be aboard this ship."

Ignoring the protests from both the nurse and his father, Spock shoved McCoy against the bulkhead, knocking the air out of the doctor.

"Mister Kyle, call Security."

As several members of Security were always stationed near the Transporter room, response was almost immediate. Spock loosened his hold on McCoy just long enough to make use of a nerve pinch before allowing McCoy to collapse to the floor.

"I want this man ejected off of the ship immediately. For every minute of delay, you will each spend two minutes in the booth."

The two men grabbed McCoy up and quickly disappeared with him. Spock regarded the now silent Council of Elders briefly before moving to one of the intercoms.

"Spock to Lieutenant Vicklan."

"Lieutenant Vicklan, sir."

"Standby to assign guest quarters to the evacuees from Vulcan. Meet the first group at the Transporter room immediately."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

On the Bridge, Chekov had been brooding ever since teleporting Spock to the planet surface. It wasn't as if he had been close to Reilly, but still, the man's death was directly attributable to Spock being a sore loser over the Kobayashi Maru. He silently vowed to himself that if there was anything he could do to make the Vulcan's life more miserable, he would.

That opportunity was about to come quicker than Chekov could have imagined.

* * *

On the Narada, Ayel turned to his captain.

"Lord Nero. The chain reaction has reached critical. The planet is doomed."

"Excellent. Tell me, how many are aboard that shuttlecraft."

"Our sensors show only one, sir."

"Bring him aboard. I find that I have questions I want answered."

"At once, Lord Nero."

"Khoal, retract the drill."

* * *

Pike was speaking to Kirk and Sulu over their communicators.

"Be ready. I'm nearly in position. Alright, now I - what the hell?"

Sulu was at the right angle that he could see into the shuttle's cockpit, so he witnessed as Pike disappeared from the pilot's seat.

"Jim! The Captain's been teleported!"

Pilotless, the shuttle began an uncontrolled decent to the planet, leaving Kirk and Sulu stranded.

"Kirk to Enterprise. Did you just teleport the Captain off of the shuttle?"

Chekov responded immediately.

"Negative, Mister Kirk."

"Well, someone teleported him away before Sulu and I could -"

Even as Kirk was speaking, the entire drill probe jerked, Both men were jolted, but Sulu's position was too near the edge of the probe and he went over. Forgetting that he was still speaking to Chekov, Kirk yelled.

"Sulu!"

In the type of move that often had McCoy questioning his sanity, Kirk leapt off the platform in pursuit of Sulu, hoping that they wouldn't hit a speed that would cause his chute to fail before he reached him.

Immediately grasping what must have happened, Chekov linked to the signals from each man's communicator even as he was doing the math in his head to determine the terminal velocity of their fall while factoring in the additional gravitational pull that was coming from Vulcan.

Kirk managed to get within reach of Sulu and the two men locked forearms. Once Kirk was sure of his grip, he deployed his chute. It jerked them both, but it only held for a few seconds before ripping away.

On the Enterprise, Chekov cursed briefly as the chute deploying skewed his calculations, but he soon readjusted and activated the transporter beams.

"Got them!"

Then he turned slightly and met Uhura's eyes.

"And since Mister Kirk is now back onboard, Mister Spock is no longer in command of the Enterprise as per Captain Pike's orders."

Uhura's tight smile of approval was all Chekov needed to see.

"Good work, Pavel."

In the Transporter room, Kirk and Sulu were taking a moment to catch their breath and the feeling of still being alive when Uhura's voice came over the intercom.

"Captain Kirk, you are needed on the Bridge."

Eyes going bright at the sound of that, Kirk got to his feet, offering Sulu a hand up.

"Come on, Sulu. We're both needed up there."

* * *

Nero was leaning back in his chair as two of his men dragged Captain Pike in front of him.

"And who might you be?"

"Captain Christopher Pike of the ISS Enterprise. And you are?"

"Nero. Captain of the Narada. Turn around, Christopher. Enjoy the glorious fruit of my labor."

The Romulans holding him forced Pike around toward the viewscreen. As he watched, a blue light seemed to form at the center of the planet's mass and then, the planet crumbled like a cookie being crushed by the invisible hand of a child. The crumbs quickly began to vanish into the blue glow until nothing remained but what looked like a dust cloud hanging in space as the blue began to dim.

"Lord Nero - we have located the Enterprise just outside of this system."

As his men tightened their hold on Pike, Nero smiled.

"How very convenient. Don't bother to engage in battle with them, simply fire on them as we depart. We have another planet to remove from the universe."

* * *

Not very far away, a pair of old, but still sharp, eyes were staring at the sky and watched the ring of dust as the blue at its center slowly faded to nothingness.

Once it was gone, he closed his eyes and shuddered as he remembered the feeling that had washed over him as literal billions of souls had died. Pulling his furred hood back over his head, he began to walk in the direction where something had landed on the planet. It might be nothing or it could be a survivor of his now-extinct planet. Spock wasn't going to rest until he found out.


	23. Part XXIII - Marooned

**Part XXIII - Marooned**

McCoy woke up slowly, fully disoriented and with no idea where he was or how he got there. Rubbing his forehead as he looked around, he finally recognized that he was in an escape pod. An escape pod no longer attached to the ship.

"Damn green-blooded pointy eared hobgoblin. Computer! Where the hell am I?"

~Current location - Class M planet Delta Vega. Planet classified as unsafe for humanoid life forms due to climate and native wildlife.~

"Oh, that's just lovely. Computer, am I the only damn person on this rock?"

~Negative. An Imperial outpost is located to the northwest of your current position. Distance approximately fourteen kilometers.~

Running a hand through his hair, McCoy looked out the window, talking to himself.

"Great. What the hell do I do now?"

The computer assumed the question was to it and answered.

~Advised course of action. Remain inside pod until such time as there is response to the homing beacon of the pod.~

McCoy snorted at that advice.

"Screw that. The only vessel around that might pick up the beacon is the one that damn well put me here. Guess that means my only viable option is to hoof it to the outpost."

~Advised course of action. Remain ~

"I heard you the first damn time! You don't have to repeat it again! Unless you have an advised course of action that doesn't entail me just sit here until non-existent help arrives, you can shut the hell up!"

Apparently, the computer had no other suggestions because it fell silent. McCoy gave a glare toward the main panel.

"Yeah, I thought not."

Grumbling under his breath, McCoy took the time to go over the contents of the pod, gathering what could be of use traveling to the outpost. There was foul weather gear far more suited to the weather outside of the pod than his uniform, emergency rations, basic tools, weapons - it took awhile because of the limited maneuvering space and the sheer number of cubbyholes he needed to sort through. He was pleased to find that no-one had bothered his medical kit and had a few murderous thoughts when he found someone had stolen his flask. Whoever did that had better hope he never made it back to the Enterprise.

Finally deciding he was as ready as he was likely to get for the trip, McCoy exited the pod - an action that sounded far easier than it was, but thankfully he was in good shape. When he finally reached the top and got his bearings on direction, the sight of the bleak landscape that he was going to have to traverse nearly filled him with despair. Pulling his hood further over his head and closing his eyes against the glare, he wondered what the hell was going on with everyone else. There had to be someone on that damn ship that knew what had happened to him or at least figure out he was missing even with all the chaos going on.

"Dammit, Jim! Where are you?"

Hearing the familiar curse that he hadn't heard in many years, the older Spock picked up his pace and came around an icy boulder to see a figure standing there with his back to him.

"Doctor McCoy?"

Even if it hadn't been his name being called, McCoy would have turned around at the sound of the only non-mechanical voice he'd heard since coming to. He was a bit disappointed to see that it wasn't anyone he recognized and his hand automatically dropped to his medical kit as he spoke.

"You have me at a bit of a disadvantage. You seem to know who I am, but I'm afraid I don't recall you."

"Have I changed so very much? I am Spock."

"I only know one Spock and he's back on the Enterprise, Mister. Are the two of you are related?"

"Not related. The same. It is good to see you again, Leonard. The years have been lonely ones since our last meeting."

Not sure he wanted the answer to his question, McCoy took a step closer.

"And when was our last meeting?"

"A month after your one hundred and fiftieth birthday. I was not able to make it on the day itself, but we celebrated it when I arrived."

Stopping where he was, McCoy managed to keep his voice steady with his next question.

"What is the current Stardate?"

A faintly puzzled look crossed the old Vulcan's face as he shifted the torch he was carrying.

"I have not be able to make use of anything to verify the current Stardate, but my encounter with Nero took place in 2387."

"Nero?"

"The Romulan captain that just destroyed my home planet."

McCoy remained silent as he reached up and pushed back his hood to show his face to the Vulcan. The effect was nearly the same as a physical blow.

"Nero was not lying. We went back through time, but even further than I would have guessed. What is the year?"

"2258. You attending my birthday - makes it sound like we were friends?"

"I counted you as one of my two closest friends."

"You know, I'm having a hard time telling if you're telling the truth or delusional. If you know me that well, tell me what you know about me."

"Your full name is Leonard Horatio McCoy. You are divorced and have a daughter by the name of Joanna. You served on the USS Republic, the USS Richard Feynman, the USS Koop, Starbase 7 - which is where I was told you and Captain Kirk met - the USS Constitution and then took a position at the Starfleet Teaching Hospital until such time as Captain Kirk offered you the position of CMO of the Enterprise, which you accepted."

McCoy was again silent for a minute before shaking his head.

"You know, outta that whole spiel, the only two things you got right are my name and that I'm divorced."

That seemed to puzzle Spock and he frowned.

"You were not aboard the Enterprise?"

"Yeah, I was, but I haven't graduated from the Academy yet. I've known Jim Kirk for years - we're roommates at the Academy. Joanna's the name of my sister. I don't have any kids."

Stepping closer as if to determine if McCoy is joking or not, Spock reached out a hand. McCoy immediately stepped back. Spock didn't fully retract his hand as he asked more questions.

"If you are not CMO of the Enterprise, then who is?"

"Commander Rajinder Puri."

"And the Captain?"

"Captain Christopher Pike."

Spock took on a determined look in his eyes.

"Leonard, please allow me to touch you. Something is very wrong and I cannot determine what it might be without further input."

"We've got a Romulan running around blowing up planets - yeah, I think that counts as something very wrong."

"Earth is very likely his next target. Where is your sister?"

The look of hatred from McCoy was not anything Spock was expecting, but McCoy stopped moving away.

"Fine. But you do anything funny and it will be the last time you do it."

A shiver ran through McCoy and he had to fight himself to keep from pulling away as the wrinkled fingers settled on his face and he heard the words Spock was speaking softly.

"Our thoughts are one - our minds are one."

The realization that this McCoy was not just a younger version of his McCoy struck Spock about the same time as it dawned on McCoy that the place being shown to him was not his world, but some odd alternate version. Then a memory passed through Spock of someone that might have been an older him and he wanted to know more.

Repelled by the very different mindset of this McCoy, Spock tried to pull out of the meld. It was then that he discovered another difference between this McCoy and his. This one didn't have the same aversion to mind melds and, in fact, seemed far more accustomed and comfortable with telepaths. Instead of allowing the separation, McCoy held on, startling Spock with both his determination and ruthlessness as McCoy chased after some more of the memories of the older versions of his allies that had come aboard due to an ion storm. Yes - that was his Kirk - his Uhura. The man with them in the red shirt was a mystery though.

Spock's hands moved from McCoy's face to his shoulders as he physically pushed the man away to break their meld. Both went to their knees. McCoy was the first to speak again.

"You're a lot further from home than you figured, Spock."

"Indeed, Doctor."

It amused McCoy that this Spock had suddenly stopped calling him Leonard.

* * *

Kirk and Sulu were about to get on the turbolift when a jolt when through the ship, throwing them both back. The red alert lights and claxons began going off as Sulu glance down the hall.

"What the hell was that?"

Kirk had a bad gut feeling that he knew.

"I think the Romulan ship has fired on us. Let's get up there."

Keeping his fingers crossed that the ship didn't take another hit while they were on the lift, Kirk let go of the breath he had been holding when they stepped back onto the Bridge. Moving straight to the Captain's chair, Kirk didn't even take a second to relish the feeling before calling out for status reports.

Looking up from her console, Uhura began giving the reports.

"All decks reporting at least minor injuries. Engineering is reporting structural damages on Deck 6. Unconfirmed reports of casualties."

There was a hesitation before Uhura gave the next report.

"The main Sickbay took a direct hit. I am not getting any response yet."

Kirk's expression hardened.

"Where is the Romulan ship now?"

Chekov turned at that.

"Gone, sir. She took one shot at us and then left. Initial trajectory would indicate that it is heading for Earth."

The turbolift doors opened again. Spock was speaking before he even stepped off.

"Why was I not called to the Bridge immediately? The Captain -"

From the chair, Kirk looked over to Spock.

"- is already on deck. Take your station, Science Officer Spock."

The Vulcan stiffened, but with how Pike's last orders had been phrased, Kirk was right. Worse, everyone on the Bridge knew it. After a moment, Spock moved to the Science station.

"Set a new course, Mister Sulu. We need to follow that Romulan son of a bitch to Earth."

"Aye, Captain."

* * *

As they walked together toward the outpost, the older Spock was still coming to terms with finding himself both in the past and in what his Kirk had called the 'Mirror Universe'.

The longer he spent with this other McCoy, the more bothered he was. Not so much by the differences, but by the similarities. Enough similarities that he still found it easy to slip and forget for a moment who he was dealing with. It was a relief to both when they saw the outpost ahead.

Entering, they could hear a unseen male cursing at something or someone in highly accented English. A Scottish accent, if McCoy wasn't mistaken. A side glance to Spock showed a faint smile on his face. Whoever was ahead was someone else that Spock thought he knew.

They entered an area that opened up and found the man who was doing all the talking was on his knees, fighting with a piece of equipment while a small alien that McCoy didn't recognize the species of was passing him tools. It was the small alien that noticed them first and drew the man's attention to them. He grabbed a rag and got up, wiping off his hands while grumbling.

"It's about time I got relieved here. Over six months and no rations outside of protein nibs which, I might add, are disgusting enough if you have to survive off of them for a day or two. Six months is plain cruelty. Fine, maybe I should have run that first test with the Admiral's dog instead of his daughter, but she was a willing participant and it was clearly an accident."

Spock looked over the man again and McCoy suddenly knew who it was - at least, in part. This was the younger version of the man in the red shirt that he'd seen in Spock's mind. Spock filled in the rest of the blank when he spoke.

"You . . you are Montgomery Scott. You postulated the theory of transwarp beaming."

"Aye, that's me. Wait, you **are** my relief, aren't you? Because I'm dying for some real food here. I'd have already turned cannibal, but Keenser here is too tough to even consider eating."

McCoy moved a little closer to get a better look at the man.

"No, we're not. We ended up stranded here when Vulcan was destroyed."

Scotty's head jerked in McCoy's direction.

"Whoa - wait - what? Destroyed? When the hell did that happen?"

Keenser gave a tug to Scotty's shirt. A look of understanding dawned and he let out a low whistle.

"So that's what Keenser was going on about. I was up to my elbows in the guts of this machine and didn't pull out to see what it was."

McCoy thought quietly for a moment, studying the other Spock from the corner of his eye. Whatever else the old Vulcan was, he was lost and lonely. McCoy could work with that. Pulling up in his mind what he could of the other McCoy, he spoke softly to Spock.

"If you know of a way to get us to the Enterprise, now would be a good time. Whatever you think of this time and place, those folks on Vulcan didn't deserve what Nero did to them. The folks on Earth don't deserve it either. Joanna's not even two years old yet and Nero's going to kill her over something that hasn't even happened in this universe."

There was a minute without any reaction from Spock, but then he nodded.

"You are correct, Doctor. Whatever else is or is not true, Nero cannot be allowed to continue the indiscriminate murder of billions of people."

Turning to the very confused Scotty, Spock continued speaking.

"Your theory of transwarp beaming was correct. It is indeed possible to beam onto a ship even if it is moving at warp speed. We need you to do that."

"Whoa - wait - what? Granted, yes it is possible, but do you know how hard it would be to get it to where you would hit a specific target? It would be worse than in those old Robin Hood vids where he split an arrow with an arrow."

While Scotty had been talking, Spock had picked up a nearby PADD. Making an entry onto it, he handed it to Scotty as he finished talking. As he read it over, Scotty's eyes got larger.

"Where the hell did you get this?"

"In a manner of speaking, I got it from you."

"From me? What - are you from the future?"

McCoy leaned against the desk the PADD had come from.

"He's from an alternate reality."

"You know, I have a theory about those as well."

"And it is also correct, Mister Scott. Can you get us to the Enterprise?"

Scotty looked over the PADD again, nodding slowly.

"Aye, with this, I can. But what's in it for me?"

That question took Spock aback, but McCoy had been expecting it.

"You get a one-way ticket off this rock and I'll make sure you get a menu card with everything available on it but protein nibs."

Scotty's face broke out into a smile.

"Sold! This won't take long for me to make the adjustments needed."

* * *

Left alone for awhile, Pike tested the straps binding him to a table. There was no give at all and he found his thoughts turning to Puri. That was the only person that he had ever trusted to have him in a position like this. Pike was brought back to the present when the doors opened and Nero came in.

"Comfortable, Christopher? It's time you and I had a talk about the Federation defenses on Earth."

Pike had no idea what Nero was talking about, but he had no intention of even telling the man that much.

"Christopher Pike - Captain - ISS Enterprise - Imperial Registry number Echo-Alpha-Victor-Two-Two-One-Eight-Echo-Lima."

Nero shook his head and brought a canister up into Pike's line of sight.

"I see you want to do this the hard way. Do you know what I have here? It's called a Centaurian slug. Amazing creatures. Once inside your body, it will attach itself to your brainstem. After that, you will answer any and every question that I put to you. Khoal, assist me."

He did his best to resist, but Pike couldn't prevent them from prying his jaws open and dropping the slug inside. Shortly after that, all he could do was scream.


	24. Part XXIV - Retrieval

**Part XXIV - Retrieval**

As he worked on the recalibration of the outpost's transporter, Scott kept up a steady line of chatter.

"So you were on the Enterprise, eh? That's one gal that's been my pin-up of choice since I caught sight of her blueprints. I'm a nacelles man and I'm told hers verge toward the enormous side."

"I have to admit to not having had time to get down to the Engineering area before I was forced off the ship. I have a good friend in Engineering that talks a lot like you do though, Mister Scott."

"Just call me Scotty, lad. Hand me that thing there to your left, would you? Thanks. What name do you prefer, Doctor?"

"Len works fine."

"Well then, Len - looks like we're ready to go. No, Keenser - not you. You'll need to stay here for now."

McCoy glanced across the room to where the older Spock was looking over one of Scott's many PADDs.

"Spock? Time to head out."

"I will not be accompanying you, Doctor."

Scowl forming, McCoy went straight up to Spock.

"Why the hell not?"

"I should not meet with my younger self."

"We've already been through this. That's not your younger self. That's an entirely different person from an entirely different universe. But one thing is the same and that's Nero. You know things about him that might help us end the destruction before its too late for Earth. How many more billions of souls do you want to feel responsible for?"

The pained look on the old Vulcan's face showed that McCoy had touched on a sore spot and finally, he nodded.

"Very well, Doctor. I will accompany you."

"Come along, lads. Do or die, let's be at it."

Taking a deep breath, McCoy stepped into the chamber, followed by Spock.

"You know, I'm going to need something else to call one. One Spock at a time is plenty."

"I must agree with you again. I have made use of the name Selek in the past. I will do so again now."

After setting the delay on the teleporter, Scotty joined the two of them.

"Hold onto your arses, men. Here we go."

McCoy closed his eyes and kept them that way until the teleportation effect ended. It was with a deep breath of relief that he recognized the Enterprise, but when he looked, he saw Selek/Spock, but not Scotty.

"Scotty?"

Selek/Spock laid a hand on McCoy's shoulder and pointed to one of the water tubes.

"There!"

Seeing the figure of Scott being pushed along helplessly by the water, McCoy let out a heartfelt curse.

"How do we get him out before he drowns without crippling the ship?"

Looking over the pipes, Selek/Spock began moving quickly.

"This way - unless the design has changed radically, we should be able to flush him from the system before he reaches the turbine."

It proved to be a close thing, but Selek/Spock managed to activate the emergency flushing system for the coolant system just before Scott would have entered the machinery. The activation of the emergency system caused an alert to go off on the Bridge. Chekov reported it to Kirk immediately.

"Captain Kirk, someone has activated the emergency flushing system for the Section Three turbine."

"Give us a look at who's down there, Mister Chekov."

Chekov quickly put the image up on the viewscreen. None of the three figures seemed familiar at first until one of them threw back his hood to start checking over another of the men who was drenched and gasping. Kirk was on his feet, relief mixed with confusion.

"Bones? What the hell is Bones doing in Engineering with an old Vulcan and some other guy?"

Spock hadn't been paying attention until Kirk spoke, but when he looked at the viewscreen, he spoke without considering that Kirk didn't know what had been done to McCoy.

"We are moving at warp speed. That is impossible."

Kirk's eyes narrowed as he turned to face Spock.

"What is it that's impossible, Mister Spock? Do you have something you need to share with the rest of the class?"

Stiffening, Spock answered the question while still evading speaking about McCoy.

"I was merely commenting on the fact that those two in the Section Three turbine room were not aboard the Enterprise. For them to be where they are, it would seem to indicate that they teleported aboard somehow, but as we are currently traveling at warp speed, that would be impossible."

Kirk's immediate thought had been to call Security, but McCoy seemed to be doing what he would normally do without any duress. Then what McCoy was wearing clicked in and he narrowed his eyes at Spock. As much as shuttles terrified him, no way in hell did McCoy willingly enter an escape pod.

"I was merely commenting on the fact that those two men were not aboard the Enterprise earlier. The

"Impossible or not, there they are. And they got onboard somehow. Mister Chekov. Have the computer go back to when they first entered the Section Three turbine room."

The Bridge as a whole watched as the old Vulcan and McCoy rushed into the room - the puzzling part being the sure way in which the Vulcan operate the system. Eyes glued to the scene, Kirk drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair.

"Mister Chekov - see if you can determine where that man entered the coolant system and give me a playback for that area going back two minutes before that event?"

It took a several moments for Chekov to comply, but the image on the screen shifted to another section of Engineering near the coolant pipe. Nothing at all showed for the first minute, but then the tell-tale signs of a teleport began to show, ending with McCoy and the Vulcan standing beside the pipe and the other man inside of it. It didn't escape Kirk's attention that it was the old Vulcan who led the way to the flushing system, but his primary focus was on one thing.

"Bones teleported onto the ship? Why the hell would Bones have had to teleport onto the ship? And why do I have the feeling you can answer that question, Spock?"

Then Kirk stood up, waving his hand dismissively.

"Never mind. I'm sure I can hear this story from the source. Mister Chekov, you have the conn. Mister Sulu, you're with me."

* * *

Pacing back and forth alongside the table that Pike was still strapped to, Nero scowled. If it wasn't for the fact that the slug made evasion impossible, he would have sworn that Pike was telling him an elaborate fairy tale. He had Pike repeat the story to him three times until Pike's voice was raw.

He was not avenging his people. His people were in another universe altogether. The Romulans of this universe were allies of the damned Empire as were the Klingons. Uneasy allies perhaps, but allies who divided up the majority of the known inhabitable planets between them.

Things got worse than that once he began dragging more details from Pike. If the actions of the Narada reached the Emperor, they would be treated as an act of war - a war in which the Klingon Empire would gleefully join forces with the Terran Empire to wipe out the Romulans in exchange for dividing the Romulan worlds between them.

There was only one way that Nero could see to prevent the Romulans of this universe from being annihilated. If he continued as he originally intended and destroyed Earth, the Terran Empire would be weakened enough that the Klingons would be highly likely throw their lot in with the Romulans to overthrow the rest of the Imperials worlds. Then he and the Narada would seek to make use of the red matter again to return to their own universe and retake up the fight against -

Nero froze then as another thought occurred to him and he raced back to Pike's side, demanding answers. Then he sat back, stunned.

This universe had a Narada as well, it seemed. One that had encountered the Kelvin much the same as his own had. Did that mean that if he was here that his Mirror counterpart was in the other universe? If so, would his universe even be recognizable to him once that Nero finished carving his path of destruction?

Shaking his head, Nero gave Pike a scowl as if he was somehow responsible for all of this. He made his decision - he wouldn't tell any of this to his men. It would only destroy morale to no good end. Moving to one of the Narada's comm units, he activated the unit.

"Nero to Engineering. Have the repairs to the drill platform been completed?"

"Not yet, Lord Nero. But we should be finished or close to it by the time we reach Earth."

"Excellent. Keep at it. Nero out."

Leaving Pike alone, Nero headed back for his Bridge. There was nothing else worthwhile to get out of the human. He could lie there on the table until he rotted.

* * *

Kirk and Sulu entered the Section Three room with their weapons drawn in case some hold was being used on McCoy that hadn't been apparent over the video feed. Hearing the doors open, all three men turned in near unison, but only McCoy broke out into a smile.

"Bones - to me."

The command puzzled McCoy, but he obeyed it without asking. Once McCoy was next to him, Kirk gestured to the other two.

"Who are they and where are they from?"

"Long story, Captain, but the short answer is that they came here from Delta Vega - icy little rock in the same system as Vulcan. The extremely wet guy is Montgomery Scott, Imperial Lieutenant Commander and the other gent is Selek. Jim, Selek's been aboard Nero's ship. He might be able to help us fight that thing."

When Kirk went quiet, McCoy always viewed that as a bad thing. Right now, Kirk was very, very quiet.

"You teleported in with them, Bones. I saw it on playback. How the hell did you end up on Delta Vega?"

"That's another long story, Jim - do we really have time for it now?"

"No. No, we don't."

Jim began talking faster, first pointing to Scott.

"You're an engineer?"

"Aye, sir - that I am."

"After you're dry and in uniform, I could use you in Engineering. We lost our Chief Engineer trying to save Vulcan."

Scott's eyes cut to McCoy, who reassured the hungry Engineer.

"Your meal card will be with your uniform, I promise. Everything but protein nibs."

That was obviously part of the long story, so Kirk put that aside for the moment as he turned to Selek/Spock.

"I want you to accompany me to the Bridge. Bones?"

There went the sudden silence again and this time it made McCoy's guts churn.

"What happened, Jim?"

"Sickbay took a direct hit from the Romulan ship. The Engineers are still working to clear it, but we haven't been able to contact anyone in the area."

Without waiting for an order, McCoy cursed and headed toward Sickbay. Kirk watched until he was out of sight. Spock. Spock had to have been the reason that McCoy was on Delta Vega. Was on Delta Vega when Sickbay was hit. Suddenly, the irony hit Kirk and he began laughing. Sulu gave Kirk an uncertain look.

"Captain?"

Still amused, Kirk put his phaser back away.

"It occurs to me that through what appears to have been his treachery, Mister Spock inadvertently saved Doctor McCoy's life. He must be having a massive case of indigestion by now."

Kirk noted that Selek seemed a bit disturbed by that comment, but attributed it to the fact that Selek likely knew Spock - or at least knew of him.

"Mister Sulu, when we reach the Bridge, work with our guest. I want as many details of Nero's ship diagrammed as he can remember. The Romulans have Pike. I want him back."

McCoy's heart was in his throat as he got his first sight of Sickbay. The engineers working on the area had managed to unblock the door and he headed inside despite the warnings that it wasn't safe in there.

"I know the damn equipment in there. Follow me in and help or stay out here and keep the hell out of my way."

Shoving everything but the medical professional inside him out of the way, McCoy began a rapid review of both equipment and people. When the Engineers saw what he was doing, they followed him and began obeying his crispy snapped orders without hesitation.

"We need to set up an auxiliary Sickbay until this area can be repaired. Lieutenant!"

"Yes, sir!"

"You know this ship better than I do. I need a room or a connected set of rooms where we can move the equipment that's still in working order so that I can start tending the injured. This, this and this can go to start with. The more we move out of the way, the more room we have to work here."

It quickly became an assembly line - some of the crew helping pass out equipment and supplies and some helping bring out the injured and dead. McCoy was grateful to find a blocked room where some of the nurses had fled for safety. Other than for bruising and minor cuts, they were unharmed - they just hadn't been able to free themselves. He immediately put them to work.

"Nurse Chapel, you're with me. Nurse H'laran and Nurse Lopez, following the lieutenant to the temporary Sickbay and help get things ready for use. Nurse Barrows and Nurse Channing, start triage on the ones we've already pulled out of here. Three categories only - dead - dying - viable with minimal intervention. Got it?"

The nurses all nodded and hurried to their assigned tasks. Chapel was the only one with a question.

"Has Doctor Puri given any orders?"

"I'll let you know when we find him. Check out that supply closet and send out everything that looks intact to the new Sickbay."

Glad to have something solid to do to take her mind off the destruction all around them, Chapel got to work, stopping when she heard what sounded like a pained intact of air by Doctor McCoy. She pulled out of the closet in time to see him drop down to his knees beside a body. She hurried over to see if she could help, but on closer look, it was obvious the man was far past the ability to be helped. It was Doctor Puri. His lifeless eyes were open and starting upward toward where the shard of metal had probably come from that was embedded in his skull.

Nurse Chapel had never considered that there might have been anything but the standard mentor relationship between Puri and McCoy, but even to her jaded eyes, it appeared that McCoy was sincerely mourning the passing of a man that he would have been expected to celebrate. Getting to his feet slowly, McCoy looked around and spotted an intact intercom. Moving over to it carefully, he activated it.

"McCoy to Bridge."

"Kirk here. What is the status?"

"I have already asked the Engineers here to assist in setting up the equipment that's still operational in a non-damaged area. So far, I have five nurses able to work, one doctor other than myself, but he's in need of treatment and three other nurses in similar condition to the doctor. Chief Medical Officer Puri is dead."

There was a long silence from the Bridge before Kirk responded.

"I need you to assume the CMO position, Bones. Do whatever you feel necessary to get a Sickbay up and running as quickly as possible. Anyone questions your orders, send them to me."

"Yes, Captain. Are you going after Nero?"

'Yes."

"Kill the bastard."

"I fully intend to. Kirk out."

Moving from the chair to where Sulu and Selek/Spock were working, Kirk took a look at what they had so far.

"We don't have a lot of time. Any idea where they might be holding Captain Pike?"

"Were I to make a guess, I would say that your Captain is most likely in this area. It is the same area that I was kept in until Nero stranded me on Delta Vega. My ship and it's supply of red matter is here. This is the area where Nero's bridge is located. If it would be useful knowledge, the Narada was built as a mining vessel."

"That explains the presence of that drill, but it doesn't explain his rampage."

"To be blunt, both Nero and I come from a future that is not even of this universe. Doctor McCoy can verify this for you. Nero's is taking revenge for an act that will not happen for more than a hundred years from your time - the destruction of Romulas in a supernova."

Kirk gave Selek/Spock a long, hard look.

"It probably doesn't say anything good about our circumstances when I say that's not the craziest thing I've ever heard. For the sake of argument before I verify anything with Bones, what would you suggest?"

"If you can get the Enterprise close enough to the Narada before the drill is activated, a strike force could beam aboard. Were I allowed to join that force, I could reclaim my ship and use it to destroy the drill probe when it is lowered. The remainder of the force could locate Captain Pike and beam back to the Enterprise."

A sudden flurry of activity at Chekov's station drew Kirk's attention and he moved closer. He had never seen that particular look on Chekov's face unless he was about to take a blade to flesh.

"Talk to me, Pavel - what are you thinking?"

"I do not know about the rest of his plans, Captain, but I believe I know how we could get close enough to try. If the Romulan takes the most direct route to Earth, then he will pass by Saturn on his way. The rings of Saturn distort sensor readings. If we are by the largest moon, the sensors will be unlikely to distinguish our ship from the moon's mass."

Kirk looked back to Selek/Spock.

"What you propose is asking me to trust you - not only with the lives of my crew, but with all the lives on Earth."

The actual question wasn't asked, but Selek/Spock answered it. The old Vulcan stood very straight and looked directly at the viewscreen as he spoke.

"Time has taken away from me all those who made my life rich. Nero stripped from me all that gave my life meaning. Doctor McCoy was correct - I do not desire more deaths on my conscience. I will do all in my power to prevent Nero from destroying Earth. If doing so means my death, I will welcome it as an old friend that I have put off seeing for far too long."

Silence held on the Bridge as Kirk also stared at the viewscreen. Then he snapped around to face Uhura.

"Contact Mister Scott in Engineering."

Uhura's mouth formed a question, but she didn't voice it, following orders exactly as stated. She was slightly surprised to be answered by a voice unknown to her.

~Scott here.~

"Scott, I need you to do whatever you did to the Delta Vega system to ours. We're taking the fight to the Narada and I want a way back off."

~Aye, sir. I'll get on it right away. Once you know who the teams are, I'll set the system to track them.~

"Excellent. Kirk out."

While Kirk had been speaking to Scott, Selek/Spock turned around, even though he was not at all sure that he wanted to see. There was the Spock of this universe, younger yes, but already with the goatee that Leonard had remarked on. Then their eyes met and both Vulcans stiffened slightly. Selek/Spock saw in the younger man many of the attributes that he had strove for in his own youth. Part of him wished he could return to the past of his own timeline, find his own Leonard and apologize to him now that he could see for himself what it was that Leonard had been trying to keep him from becoming.

After another brief glance toward Selek/Spock, Kirk gave a nod then drew the older Vulcan out of his thoughts when he spoke.

"Fine. Mister Chekov -get us into position by Saturn and do whatever you need to get us there ahead of Nero. Mister Sulu, take the conn. Mister Selek, with me."

A slight shudder passed through Selek/Spock as his body automatically fell into following behind this James Kirk the same as he had followed behind his own Kirk for so many years. As the turbolift doors shut behind them, Kirk gave the order for Sickbay as he continued to study the old Vulcan, wondering exactly what it was that seemed familiar about him. They couldn't have met before - he would have remembered running into a Vulcan this old.

The doors opened to a scene of organized chaos. Destruction was still everywhere, but some order had been carved out of it and, when he heard the voice ringing out over all of the others, Kirk gave a small chuckle. McCoy was a force in his own right whether he cared to admit it or not.

"Come on, people! We have a limited window here! Harvest everything useable from the dying. Concentrate the supplies we have on the ones that have a better than 75% chance of pulling through. M'benga! You go against an order of mine one more damn time and, doctor shortage or not, I will toss you out the damn airlock!"

"Must you be so brutal, Doctor?"

The soft voice of Selek/Spock reached McCoy and he turned around, his scrubs deeply stained with blood.

"I can be brutal and save the folks that have a fighting chance or I can play nice and watch everyone die, Selek. If it was the only choice he had, what would Leonard choose?"

Suspicious blue eyes were on McCoy as Kirk waited for Selek/Spock to answer. He heard a heavy sigh from beside him.

"Leonard would never stand by and let death occur while there was anything he could do to prevent it."

McCoy gave a curt nod, then looked around.

"Come on, Jim. The three of us need a quick chat where there aren't so damn many ears. Chapel! You know what I want - you're in charge while I'm gone. You have my full permission to make use of your blade if anyone gives you any lip."

The blonde gave him a silky smile.

"Yes, Doctor."

Once they were away from the group, McCoy gave a small stretch to relieve his back.

"Well, I guess I should start with introductions. Jim, this is Spock. Spock from a parallel universe and about a hundred or so years in the future."

He expected the incredulous look Kirk gave him.

"He initiated a mind meld, Jim. Rashea's taught me enough over the years that I did some looking. He's not insane - or if he is, he's the most orderly insane guy I've ever run into. And he's met versions of me and you - about, I would guess, ten to fifteen years older than we are right now. I believe you even referred to them as 'refreshing', didn't you. Spock?"

It was a fascinating thing for Kirk to see the older Spock's expression. He didn't believe he had ever seen a recognizable look of embarrassment on a Vulcan before.

"Had I the opportunity, I would apologize to my old friends for both that remark and many others as well, Doctor."

"Bones, this Spock thinks if he can get to his ship that he would be able to destroy the drill."

"He knows the capabilities of his ship better than any of us would, Jim. If he offered, I'd take him at his word. Only thing that's guaranteed is that if we don't do something, Earth is doomed."

"Fine. You're with us, Spock."

"Us?"

"I want you with me, Bones. There's no telling what condition Pike will be in - immediate attention might make all the difference. Is there anyone that you can trust to keep things going here?"

"Chapel. But if I'm off the ship, M'benga is likely to try and over-ride her."

"I'll take care of that. You go with Spock here and get him geared up. We need one more, but I want Chekov and Sulu both at the Helm ready to maneuver the ship in case something goes wrong."

"Uhura. She knows every dialect of Romulan there is. If something needs to be translated, nobody could do it faster."

A small smile began to form on Kirk's face. He was starting to see how this might actually work. And if a plan could possibly work, he could **make** it work.

"Agreed. Get moving. We have to be ready to go when Nero passes Saturn."

"Right, Jim."

Moving carefully around the debris, Kirk found Chapel and could see why McCoy had already taken a liking to her. She was giving orders and glaring with an attitude that screamed 'mess with me and you will regret it'. Kirk moved to the intercom, getting the attention of the whole ship.

"Attention all personnel. We are in an emergency situation and for the duration of this emergency, the following field promotions are in effect. Hikaru Sulu will assume position of First Officer. Christine Chapel will assume the position of assistant CMO. Any attempts to override their authority during this emergency will be viewed as mutiny and dealt with under Imperial law. That is all."

Moving close enough that only Chapel could hear him, Kirk spoke softly.

"He showed a lot of faith in your abilities. Don't screw up."

"I won't, sir."

* * *

It wasn't long before the team of four was assembled in the Transporter room, each dressed in body armor that resembled wet suits to a degree. Uhura had her hair done in a tight bun at the back of her head. Selek/Spock didn't seem particularly comfortable, but he wasn't lodging any complaints. Scott was there to man the controls himself since he had the best understanding of the adjustments he had made to fine tune the system. He handed each of them a band to slip around their left wrists.

"This will help me keep track of you. Here, Len - take this one for Captain Pike. Slip it on him as soon as you're able."

"Right, Scotty. Get us all back whole and I've got a bottle with your name on it."

"Don't be kidding a man that's been dry for over six months, Len."

"Not kidding and I'm not taking replicator crap either. The real thing."

"You have a deal, laddie. Going in won't be exact, but I'll get you into the area best I can."

Kirk looked over the three going with him - two known and one? Well, he was going to have to trust McCoy's guts on that one. McCoy's little sister was at stake. He wouldn't be putting her life into that Vulcan's hands unless he was sure.

"Phasers out. Take no prisoners, but don't go out of your way looking for Romulans. He gets his ship, we get Pike, we get the hell out. Everyone clear on that?"

All three responded positively as Kirk drew his own phaser and looked to Scott.

"Energize when ready, Mister Scott."

"Nero's ship is approaching our target zone. Energizing in three . . . two . . . one."

As the transporter effect faded, Selek/Spock immediately looked around to get his bearings as Kirk, Uhura and McCoy all scanned for the enemy. It unfortunately didn't take long to find them.

"Uhura! Go with him and make sure he gets to that ship!"

"Aye!"

Selek/Spock headed for where he knew the ship had been left with Uhura covering him, firing at the one Romulan that seems to be targeting them. Kirk and McCoy were exchanging fire with another pair when Kirk spotted the area Selek/Spock had spoken of.

"We need to make our way over there, Bones! It's likely where Pike is."

"Cover me, Jim. I'll make a break for it and then cover you from the door."

Rising up to make himself a more visible target, Kirk started shooting hard and fast. McCoy headed for the door, but fell when one shot from the Romulans connected. The armor protected him from severe injury, but as he scrambled for the door again after Kirk drew their attention again, he knew he'd be feeling that bruise for some time to come.

The relief he felt when he finally made the door was enormous and a glance inward confirmed that they were in the right place, but he couldn't go after Pike. Not yet. Positioning himself, a faint smile formed as one of the Romulans leaned out to get a better shot at Kirk. McCoy's shot from behind left a void where the Romulan's head had been. The second man didn't last long after that and Kirk hurried over to join McCoy.

Uhura was dealing with only one Romulan, but he had the advantage of knowing the Narada intimately. Still, despite a couple of close hits, Selek/Spock was unhurt and his ship was now in sight.

Entering that area must have alerted the Romulan to what was happening and his shots started coming faster, but not with any better aim. Eyes narrowing in annoyance, Uhura took a stance, allowing herself to be a better target in exchange for greater accuracy. Her gamble paid off and as Selek/Spock was re-entering his ship, the Romulan tumbled from his perch, dead.

Uhura darted over to the control panels and quickly read over the displays. Within minutes, she was typing in the sequence that released the Jellyfish from its moorings and then watched as it came to life and began to exit. As she headed back the way they'd come, she hit her communicator.

"November to Juliette. Sierra is away."

Kirk scowled at his communicator even as McCoy chuckled. Juliette? He owed her for that one.

"Return to Echo, November."

"Aye."

Uhura changed her setting slightly.

"Echo - bring me home."

Almost immediately, she felt the pull of the transporter effect even as she began to hear the shouts of approaching Romulans. Not a trace of her remanded by the time they reached the empty room.

"Lord Nero - the Vulcan's ship is gone."

"Go get the prisoner! Bring him to the Bridge at once!"

McCoy was working as quickly as he could to release the straps holding Pike and was nearing the end when the Captain finally started coming to.

"Wha? What are you doing here?"

The hoarseness of Pike's voice was painful to hear and he was barely audible.

"Retrieving you, sir."

Pike was unresisting as McCoy slipped the band over his hand. Kirk hit his communicator. The shouts he'd heard in the distance were getting closer.

"Now, Echo!"

Khoal and his team came into the area just in time to see the last of the transporter effect fade. This was one report he didn't want to make.

"Lord Nero - the prisoner has been taken."

The maddened roar from Nero made even the most seasoned of the Romulans flinch.

"Back to the Bridge! I want Earth to be nothing but a distant memory within the hour!"


	25. Part XXV - Narada

**Part XXV - Narada**

The first wave of panic was limited to the upper echelons of the Empire when the enormous bulk that was the Narada was spotted.

The second wave of panic was also limited to those who could see the enormous drill probe slowly lowering through the atmosphere to rest above the water of San Francisco Bay in full view of the Starfleet Academy.

The third wave of panic swept around the world as the drill came to life, disrupting communications worldwide and disabling transporter devices. Readings from sensors located along fault lines began to show increasing activity. Long dormant volcanos were also being shaken from their long slumbers.

Aboard the Narada, Nero watched with anticipation. As much as he had enjoyed the sight of Vulcan imploding, he planned to enjoy the sight of Earth meeting the same fate far more. His thoughts were interrupted by Ayel.

"Lord Nero! The Vulcan's ship has just reappeared and entered Earth's atmosphere - he seems to be targeting the drill probe!"

"No! Stop him!"

But the command came too late. Spock was already firing with pinpoint precision and soon the drill probe and platform were falling from the sky.

"I should have killed him while I had him on his knees! Destroy that ship!"

"Lord Nero, that would ignite the red matter that he carries and then -."

"I don't care! I want him dead!"

Khoal called out his report immediately.

"The Vulcan went to warp and has reappeared just outside of this solar system."

"After him, you fools!"

* * *

In the bowels of the Enterprise, McCoy was working with his own set of tools in a hastily put together surgical room with only Chapel to assist him. He'd already had to kill one crewmember looking to take advantage of Pike's vulnerable condition and he didn't want to be forced to deal with any others. Not until the surgery was over, at least.

A stasis tube was standing by for use. He planned to make a thorough study of whatever the creature was that he was slowly detangling from Pike's brainstem and spinal column.

"Dammit. There's no way to avoid nerve damage. Not and remove all of this - whatever it is."

Chapel remained silent as she tried to anticipate what he would want or need next. She had assisted many doctors since becoming as nurse, but never anyone with hands like McCoy's. If this was how he operated in primitive conditions, she wanted to see what he could do in a state of the art surgery. She had a particular weakness for autopsies and her mouth started watering at the thought of watching those hands parting dead flesh and muscle down to the bone.

"Get the tube ready."

McCoy's voice broke her from her pleasant daydream. She had the tube ready so smoothly that McCoy hadn't the slightest idea that her mind had been wandering. The creature emerging at the end of one of McCoy's instruments was hideous. Also much larger that she had imagined. No wonder it had taken so much work for him to dislodge it. It took working in tandem to force it into the tube without letting it come into contact with either of them.

Once the tube was sealed, McCoy took a closer look at it.

"This one ought to make for an interesting dissection session. Until then, let's just make sure he stays out of mischief."

After sealing it into storage with CMO authority only, McCoy moved back to Pike, running a tricorder back over him now that the creature was out.

"Thing released some sort of toxin into his system. Not helping his nervous system any either. We need to get a sample and see if we can neutralize it before it does more damage."

The entire ship shuddered around them, making McCoy very glad that hadn't happened before they had secured the creature. That was one thing he didn't want running loose. Unless he was the one setting it loose.

"Run this through the analyzer while we still have a working ship."

"Yes, Doctor."

After Chapel left the area, McCoy looked back down at Pike.

"You better never make me regret this, old man."

* * *

The Narada was so focused on the Vulcan Jellyfish that they weren't running the general scans on the rest of the area that would have shown them the Enterprise - now moved away from the protection of Saturn. As the Narada left Earth's solar system, Spock was sitting and waiting in a state of partial meditation. He knew what he had to do - both for this universe he had found himself in and for his own katra. He had to reopen a black hole and go through it - dead or alive.

His thoughts returned, as they often had over the years, to the two men he had come to call his brothers. His thoughts mainly centered on Leonard McCoy. Leonard, who was now his best hope to save his katra and return it to his people. Leonard had carried his katra once and some semblance of a connection had remained, like a lingering warmth after the sun had set. He hoped that once his body was gone, his katra would follow that link through the black hole and be drawn to Leonard. This time, Leonard would know what it was. Old as his brother had become, he also knew that Leonard would do everything in his power to take his spirit to its rightful resting place.

Drawing a deep breath, Spock set the controls of the Jellyfish as the computer responded with an alert.

~Warning - projected destination puts this vessel on a collision course.~

"Acknowledged - disable safety protocol. Course is correct. Remove helm from manual control. Lock in course and execute."

~Course locked. Executing.~

With that, the old Vulcan closed his eyes, centered his spirit and prepared for what he hoped was his katra's final journey.

* * *

"We have the Vulcan's ship on our sensors, Lord Nero."

"Put it on the viewscreen, Ayel. Chase him down!"

But as soon as the Jellyfish was on the viewscreen, it became very obvious that the Vulcan ship wasn't running.

"What does he think he's doing?"

"Lord Nero! He is on a collision course."

"Fire! Fire all weapons!"

* * *

Watching from the Bridge of the Enterprise, Kirk briefly considered having the old Vulcan teleported back to the Enterprise, but no. That Spock had kept his word. Let him choose the end to his own story. This wasn't his time or place.

All of the Bridge crew watched as there was an explosion followed by the eerie sight of the singularity coming to life and beginning to draw the Narada into it. Then suddenly, the ship lurched, nearly knocking those standing off their feet.

"What the hell was that, Chekov?"

"The singularity, Captain. We are too close. We are caught in its gravitational field!"

"Uhura! Get me Engineering! Scotty - we need all the power you can give us."

"I'm giving you all she's got, Captain!"

Sulu looked over the Helm, shaking his head.

"No good, sir - all we're doing is slowing down how fast we're being pulled in."

"I need ideas, people - and I need them now."

"If we could manage a big enough blast between us and the black hole, there's a chance the shockwave might push us away. But it would take more power than a photon torpedo, sir."

Kirk's eyes lit up.

"The Enterprise has state of the art weapons, Scotty. Would the nova torpedo do the job?"

"I've only read about them, but if they do as they're supposed to? Aye, it just might do the trick, but that level of blast will drain everything but emergency power."

"Re-route it now!"

The screen crackled to life and Nero's face filled it.

"We may be doomed, but so long as I have the pleasure of dragging you to Hell with us, I will be well satisfied."

Scott's voice came back over the intercom.

"Ready when you are, sir."

"Mister Chekov - prepare for a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Nero! We won't accompany you to Hell, but we'll be glad to send you on your way. Now, Chekov!"

Lights dimmed thorough the Enterprise as an energy torpedo shot out like a shooting star, far too bright to look at directly. Those on the Romulan ship that did look spent the last seconds of their lives blinded as the nova torpedo seemed to engulf the Narada for a brief instant before causing the warp engines of the massive ship to rupture and explode simultaneously.

The resulting shock wave shoved the Enterprise out of the gravity well even as the singularity was pulling in on itself and disappearing from existence. Red-alert claxons were going off ship-wide. The Enterprise and her crew were battered, but alive. Kirk called that a win.

The Emperor was quick to take advantage of the situation by touting the fact that it was through the efforts of the Imperial Starship Enterprise that a sneak attack from the Romulans was thwarted - he declared war on the Romulan Empire even as he celebrated the crew of the ship that had pulled off the victory that saved the Earth.

Kirk was given Captaincy of the Enterprise and McCoy was officially installed as CMO. Kirk requested that he be able to keep his crew that had served under him during the emergency and that was granted. Spock was to remain as Science Officer and a more experienced officer named Gary Mitchell was assigned to Kirk as his First Officer.

Before the Enterprise was ready to depart for her next mission, Spock visited Pike in the hospital. Pike knew now about the loss of Puri and that, combined with the loss of his ship, had him in a murderous mood. Even though he knew that he owed both his life and the fact that he would eventually be able to walk again to the efforts of Kirk and McCoy, Pike knew exactly what he wanted. Everything that Kirk had.

With that in mind, Pike motioned Spock over to his bedside.

"You want to be First Officer again - I want my ship back. It may take a couples of years. Can you be that patient, Spock?"

"I am a Vulcan. I can be and I will be."

Ignorant of any of that, two days later, Kirk gave McCoy a slap on the shoulder as the Enterprise was finally ready to leave the repair dock.

"It's a big universe and it's ours for the taking, Bones. Buckle up."

* * *

**Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the ISS Enterprise. **

**Her ongoing mission: to exploit strange new worlds, to subjugate new lifeforms and new civilizations, **

**to boldly go where no one has gone before.**


	26. Sequel Alert

As I promised to several readers of this story, I am posting here that the Mirror-verse treatment of Star Trek Into Darkness has begun. The story's name is An Unholy Alliance : Into the Shadows - s/9742087/1/An-Unholy-Alliance-Into-the-Shadows . First few paragraphs are below :

* * *

It had been a little over two years since the destruction of the Narada and, for Captain James T. Kirk, life was good. Even with the passing of time, he was still by far the youngest Captain in the fleet - a good fifteen years younger than the next youngest Captain. But his youth wasn't holding him back. The ISS Enterprise was the most profitable ship in the Fleet and, despite the number of risks that Kirk took that many considered foolhardy, his crew attrition rate was low. Kirk credited that to McCoy - McCoy credited it to Kirk. He explained his theory to Kirk over a shot of Romulan Ale - far harder to get since the Emperor had declared war.

"Starfleet, especially the lower ranks, are full of folks that were dragged out of jail for being violent, stuffed into a uniform and then stuffed onto an oversized tin can. Unstable situation to say the least."

"Yeah, I seem to recall there was a doctor whose butt was dragged out of jail, but I understand he's done alright for himself. But what does crewmember quality - or lack thereof - have to do with me keeping them from killing each other, Bones?"

"Smartass. To answer your question, you stumbled onto the magic key. You keep them active. Sure, some of them get killed on missions, but if they weren't kept busy, they'd be turning their pent-up energy on each other and there would be more even deaths. Add into that the fact that situations where the crew is killing itself off makes morale go to Hell? That gives you a vicious circle that leads to more negative energy they'd need a way to blow off. Hell, Jim, don't go by my word. Just looking at the mortality rate on the other ships. That pretty much proves my theory."

Looking at the bright blue liquid in his glass, Kirk's forehead wrinkled slightly as he considered McCoy's words.

"So . . . you don't think I'm too reckless?"

McCoy raised his glass slightly, shrugging slightly.

"Naw. Just reckless enough."


End file.
